Voitko odottaa vartin, kun minä haen avaimen?

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Breakdown of Voitko odottaa vartin, kun minä haen avaimen?

• sinä: you
• odottaa: to wait for
• hakea: to fetch

Questions & Answers about Voitko odottaa vartin, kun minä haen avaimen?

What does voitko mean grammatically, and why does it end with -ko?

Voitko = voida (to be able to / can) in 2nd person singular (voit = you can) + the question clitic -ko/-kö, which turns the clause into a yes–no question.
So voitko literally works like can you …?
You can attach -ko/-kö to different words to change emphasis, e.g. Vartinko voit odottaa? = Is it a quarter hour you can wait?

Why is odottaa in the basic dictionary form (infinitive)?

Because voida is a modal verb, and in Finnish modals typically take the A-infinitive (the basic infinitive):
voit + odottaa = can + wait.
Same pattern: saan mennä (I may go), pitää lähteä (must leave), täytyy tehdä (have to do).

What case is vartin, and why is it not varttia?

vartin is the genitive/accusative-looking form of vartti (a quarter of an hour, 15 minutes). With durations, Finnish often alternates:

• odottaa vartin = wait exactly / a set amount (a whole quarter-hour)
• odottaa varttia (partitive) = wait some / about a quarter-hour, or focusing on the process rather than the complete amount

In everyday Finnish, vartin is very common when you mean a clear, bounded time.

Is vartti a common word, and could I say instead?