Log inSign up

Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua, joten odotan vielä hetken.

Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua, joten odotan vielä hetken.
The departure is in an hour, so I will wait a little longer.

Breakdown of Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua, joten odotan vielä hetken.

olla
to be
joten
so
odottaa
to wait
vielä
still
hetki
moment
lähtö
leaving
tunti
hour
kuluttua
in
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Finnish now

Questions & Answers about Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua, joten odotan vielä hetken.

What is lähtö here, and how is Lähtö on ... structured?

Lähtö is a noun meaning departure (from the verb lähteä = to leave).
Lähtö on ... is a basic Finnish copula sentence: [noun] + on (is) + [time/place expression].
So it literally patterns like Departure is in an hour.

Why does it say tunnin and not tunti in tunnin kuluttua?

In time-measure expressions, Finnish commonly uses the genitive form (ending -n) for the amount:

  • tunnin = of an hour / an hour’s (genitive of tunti)
    So tunnin kuluttua is the standard way to say in an hour (literally something like after an hour).

You’ll see the same pattern with other measures:

  • päivän päästä = in a day
  • kahden viikon kuluttua = in two weeks
What exactly is kuluttua, and why is it after the noun?

Kuluttua is a postposition meaning after / from now by in these time expressions. Finnish often uses postpositions that come after their complement, unlike English prepositions.

Structure: [time in genitive] + kuluttua

  • tunnin kuluttua = after an hour → in an hour
    It’s parallel in meaning to tunnin päästä (also very common).
Why is there a comma before joten?

Joten means so / therefore and it introduces a new clause. In Finnish, it’s normal to put a comma before clause-linking conjunctions like joten when they connect two full clauses:

  • Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua, joten odotan vielä hetken.
Why is there no word for I? Shouldn’t it be minä odotan?

Finnish usually doesn’t need subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person.

  • odotan = I wait / I’m waiting (1st person singular present)

You can say minä odotan, but it adds emphasis/contrast (like I as opposed to someone else).

What’s the difference between odotan meaning I wait vs I am waiting?

Finnish present tense covers both depending on context.

  • odotan can mean I wait (general/habitual) or I’m waiting (right now).
    Here, the context makes it clearly right now: you’re waiting because departure is later.
What nuance does vielä add, and where can it go in the sentence?

Vielä often means still / yet / a bit longer. Here it suggests continuing the waiting: I’ll wait a little longer.

Placement can shift emphasis slightly, but common options include:

  • odotan vielä hetken (neutral/common)
  • vielä odotan hetken (more emphasis on still)
  • odotan hetken vielä (less common; can sound more afterthought-like)
Why is it hetken and not hetkeä?

Hetki = a moment.

  • hetken is the accusative/genitive-looking total object form, used when the waiting time is seen as bounded/complete: wait for a moment (and then stop).
  • hetkeä is the partitive and tends to sound more ongoing/indefinite: wait for a moment (for some time, not focusing on completion).

So odotan vielä hetken fits the idea: you’ll wait a short, specific extra amount of time.

Are there any important sound or spelling changes in these words (tunnin, hetken, lähtö)?

Yes—these are very typical Finnish stem changes:

  • tunti → tunnin: the stem shows nn in inflection (a common alternation)
  • hetki → hetken: i often drops before certain endings (hetke- + n)
  • lähteä → lähtö: the noun lähtö is derived from the verb and has a related but different stem

Recognizing these patterns helps a lot with reading and forming cases.

Can the word order be changed, and what would it emphasize?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible and often used for emphasis/topic:

  • Lähtö on tunnin kuluttua. (neutral: talking about departure)
  • Tunnin kuluttua on lähtö. (emphasizes the time: in an hour, it’s departure time)
  • On tunnin kuluttua lähtö. (possible in some contexts, more marked)

The original is the most straightforward, neutral option.