Log inSign up

Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä.

Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä.
Here is an app that reminds me to drink water.

Breakdown of Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä.

olla
to be
juoda
to drink
tässä
here
minua
me
muistuttaa
to remind
vesi
water
joka
that/which
sovellus
an app
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Finnish now

Questions & Answers about Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä.

Why does the sentence start with Tässä on ... instead of Tämä on ...?

Tässä on ... is a very common “presenting” structure in Finnish: it roughly means Here is / Here’s ... (introducing or pointing something out).

  • Tässä = here (in this place / at this point, in my hand/on the screen)
  • on = is/there is
  • sovellus = an app

Tämä on ... is more like This is ... (identifying something already in focus). Both can be possible, but Tässä on sovellus... feels natural when you’re “showing” the app.

Is Tässä on sovellus more like “Here is an app” or “There is an app”?

In practice, it’s closer to Here is an app (especially when you’re presenting it). Finnish often uses the same structure ([place] + on + NP) to introduce things:

  • Tässä on kirja. = Here’s a book.
  • Keittiössä on pöytä. = There’s a table in the kitchen.

So Tässä on can cover both “here is” and “there is,” depending on context.

Why is sovellus in the basic form (nominative) and not in partitive?

Because Tässä on sovellus is presenting one whole item as the subject complement of on. You’re basically saying “Here is an app (a complete app).”

You might see partitive in existential-type sentences when the meaning is “some (of it/them)” or an indefinite quantity, e.g.:

  • Tässä on sovelluksia. = There are (some) apps here. (plural partitive: an indefinite set)
  • Tässä on vettä. = There is (some) water here. (uncountable)

But a single countable sovellus is naturally nominative here.

What does joka mean here, and why is there a comma before it?

joka is the relative pronoun who/which/that. It introduces a relative clause describing sovellus:

  • sovellus, joka ... = an app that/which ...

Finnish typically uses a comma before a relative clause:

  • sovellus, joka muistuttaa...

So the comma is normal and expected.

How do I know joka refers to sovellus?

Because joka is the relative pronoun right after sovellus, and it matches it in number/case as needed in the relative clause. Here joka is singular and functions as the subject of the relative clause:

  • joka muistuttaa ... = which reminds ...

If the antecedent were plural, you’d usually see jotka:

  • sovellukset, jotka muistuttavat ... = the apps that remind ...
Why is the verb muistuttaa used, and what kind of pattern does it take?

muistuttaa means to remind. The common pattern is:

muistuttaa + (person in partitive) + (doing something)
So:

  • muistuttaa minua = reminds me
  • muistuttaa häntä = reminds him/her
  • muistuttaa meitä = reminds us

This verb typically takes the person being reminded in the partitive case.

Why is it minua (partitive) and not minut (accusative) or minulle (allative)?

With muistuttaa (in the “remind someone” meaning), Finnish normally uses the partitive for the person:

  • muistuttaa minua = remind me

minut would suggest a different object-pattern (more “complete/total object”), but it’s not the standard construction with muistuttaa in this meaning.

minulle (to me) would fit better with some other verbs, but not this one in standard Finnish. (You can see muistuttaa jostakin = remind (someone) of something, but that’s a different complement: jostakin = about/of something.)

Why is it juomaan and not juoda?

Because Finnish uses a special infinitive form after many verbs when you mean “to (go) do something / to do something” as a goal or target of the action. Here, juomaan is the illative form of the 3rd infinitive of juoda:

  • juoda = basic infinitive (to drink)
  • juomaan = “into drinking / to drink” (goal-directed “to (go) drink / to drink”)

With muistuttaa, the pattern is very commonly:

  • muistuttaa jotakuta tekemään jotakin = remind someone to do something

So muistuttaa minua juomaan = reminds me to drink.

Why is vettä in the partitive case?

Because water is an uncountable substance and you typically mean an unspecified amount. Finnish expresses that with the partitive:

  • juoda vettä = to drink water (some water)

If you mean a specific, complete amount, you might use a “total object” instead, depending on context:

  • juoda veden could mean drink the water (all of it) (e.g., the water in a glass/bottle, context-dependent).

But in reminders like this, vettä is the natural default.

Could I also say ... muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä vs ... muistuttaa minua juomaan veden—what’s the difference in meaning?
  • juomaan vettä = remind me to drink water in general / some water / not a specified full quantity (most natural for health/habit reminders)
  • juomaan veden = remind me to drink the water (a specific whole amount), e.g. “the glass/bottle of water”

So the case choice changes whether it sounds like a general habit or a specific “finish this amount” instruction.

Is the word order fixed? Could I rearrange it?

The core is flexible, but some orders sound more natural depending on what you want to emphasize.

Natural as given:

  • Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua juomaan vettä.

Possible variations:

  • Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa juomaan vettä. (drops minua; sounds more general/impersonal)
  • Tässä on sovellus, joka muistuttaa minua veden juomisesta. (different structure: “reminds me about drinking water”)

But the given version is a very standard, conversational way to say it.