Oppitunnin jälkeen kävelen puistossa tunnin.

Breakdown of Oppitunnin jälkeen kävelen puistossa tunnin.

minä
I
puisto
the park
kävellä
to walk
-ssa
in
jälkeen
after
oppitunti
the lesson
tunti
hour
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Questions & Answers about Oppitunnin jälkeen kävelen puistossa tunnin.

Why is it oppitunnin and not oppitunti?

Because jälkeen (after) is a postposition that requires the noun before it to be in the genitive case.

  • oppitunti = a lesson (dictionary form)
  • oppitunnin = of the lesson / lesson’s (genitive)
    So oppitunnin jälkeen literally means after the lesson.

What exactly is jälkeen—a preposition or something else?

It’s a postposition (it comes after the noun it relates to). English uses prepositions (after the lesson), but Finnish often uses postpositions:

  • oppitunnin jälkeen = after the lesson
    A common pair is:
  • ennen = before → oppituntia ennen (typically partitive)
  • jälkeen = after → oppitunnin jälkeen (genitive)

Why does kävelen not need minä (“I”)?

Finnish verb endings show the subject, so the pronoun is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

  • (Minä) kävelen = I walk / I am walking
    The -n ending marks 1st person singular.

Is kävelen “I walk” or “I am walking”?

It can be either, depending on context. Finnish present tense covers both simple present and present continuous meanings:

  • kävelen = I walk / I’m walking

Why is it puistossa and not puistoon?

Because puistossa is the inessive case meaning in the park (location where the action happens).

  • puistossa = in the park (staying there while walking)
  • puistoon = into the park (movement toward the park)
    So kävelen puistossa means you are walking around/within the park, not walking into it.

What case is puistossa, and how is it formed?

Puistossa is inessive: -ssa/-ssä = in.
Formation here:

  • puisto (park) + -ssapuistossa
    It uses -ssa (not -ssä) because puisto has back vowels (u, o), following vowel harmony.

Why is it tunnin and not tuntia?

Because Finnish often marks duration as a total/complete amount of time with an “accusative-like” form that looks like the genitive singular:

  • tunnin = (for) an hour / one hour (duration as a whole)
    Using tuntia (partitive) can sound more like “some of an hour / an hour-ish” or be used in certain contexts, but the most standard way to say “for an hour” here is tunnin.

Why not tunnissa? Doesn’t that mean “in an hour”?

tunnissa (inessive) usually means in an hour in the sense of within an hour / in one hour’s time, often answering “how fast/how soon”:

  • Teen sen tunnissa. = I’ll do it in an hour (it takes one hour to complete).
    But in your sentence you mean duration of walking, so you use tunnin:
  • Kävelen tunnin. = I walk for an hour.

Does tunnin mean “one hour” or “the hour”?

In this structure it typically means one hour (an hour’s duration), even without yksi (one). If you want to be extra explicit, you can add yksi:

  • kävelen puistossa yhden tunnin = I walk in the park for one hour (very explicit)

Why is the word order Oppitunnin jälkeen kävelen puistossa tunnin? Can it be changed?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible, and changes mostly affect focus/emphasis. Your order is natural: it sets the time frame first, then the action. Other common orders:

  • Kävelen puistossa tunnin oppitunnin jälkeen. (more neutral “main clause first”)
  • Puistossa kävelen tunnin oppitunnin jälkeen. (emphasizes in the park)
  • Tunnin kävelen puistossa oppitunnin jälkeen. (emphasizes the duration, but can sound marked)

Could oppitunnin jälkeen mean “after class” in the general sense?

Yes. oppitunti can mean a single lesson period, and in context it often corresponds to after class. If you want to be broader like “after school” or “after classes,” you’d choose different words:

  • koulun jälkeen = after school
  • oppituntien jälkeen = after the lessons (plural, genitive)

If I wanted to say “After a lesson…” (not a specific one), is the sentence different?

Often it can stay the same in Finnish, since Finnish doesn’t have articles (a/the). Context usually tells you whether it’s specific. If you want to stress “after one (particular) lesson,” you might add yhden:

  • Yhden oppitunnin jälkeen kävelen puistossa tunnin. = After one lesson, I walk in the park for an hour.