Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.

This is the phone with which I call my sister.

Breakdown of Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• minun: my
• soittaa: to call
• sisko: the sister
• puhelin: the phone
• jolla: who

Questions & Answers about Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.

What does jolla mean here?

Here jolla means with which or more naturally in English, that I use to.

So:

• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.
• literally: This is a phone, with which I call my sister.
• natural English: This is the phone I use to call my sister.

Finnish often uses a relative pronoun plus a case ending where English might use that, which, or just leave the word out.

Why is it jolla and not joka?

Joka is the basic form of the relative pronoun which / that / who.

But in Finnish, relative pronouns change form according to their role in the clause. Here the phone is the instrument used for calling, so Finnish uses the adessive case:

• joka = which / that
• jolla = with which / on which / by means of which

So jolla matches the idea with the phone.

What case is jolla, and why is that case used?

Jolla is in the adessive case.

The adessive often has meanings like:

• on
• at
• with
• by means of

Here it expresses the tool/instrument used to do something:

• puhelimella = with a phone / using a phone
• jolla = with which

So the sentence structure is similar to:

• Soitan puhelimella. = I call using a phone.
• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan... = This is a phone with which I call...

Why doesn’t the sentence repeat puhelimella after soitan?

Because jolla already refers back to puhelin.

Compare these:

• Soitan puhelimella siskolleni. = I call my sister with a phone.
• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni. = This is the phone with which I call my sister.

In the second sentence, jolla replaces puhelimella and links the two parts together.

What exactly is soitan?

Soitan is the 1st person singular present tense of soittaa.

So:

• soittaa = to call / to play
• soitan = I call / I am calling / I play

In this sentence it means I call.

Finnish present tense can often cover both simple present and present continuous, depending on context.

Why does soittaa mean call here and not play?

Because the meaning depends on context.

The verb soittaa can mean:

• to call (someone)
• to play (an instrument/music)

Here the object is a person in the form siskolleni (to my sister), and the sentence contains puhelin (phone), so the meaning is clearly to call.

For example:

• Soitan pianoa. = I play the piano.
• Soitan siskolleni. = I call my sister.

What does siskolleni mean?

Siskolleni means to my sister.

It is made up of:

• sisko = sister
• -lle = allative ending, often meaning to / onto
• -ni = my

So:

• siskolle = to a/the sister
• siskolleni = to my sister

Why is it siskolleni and not something more like a direct object?

Because the verb soittaa in the meaning to call someone often uses the person being called in the allative case (-lle).

So in Finnish you say literally something like:

• I call to my sister

rather than using a direct object like English does.

Examples:

• Soitan äidilleni. = I call my mother.
• Soitatko minulle? = Will you call me?
• Hän soittaa opettajalle. = He/She calls the teacher.

This is a matter of verb government: the verb determines which case is used.

Why is there no word for a or the in Tämä on puhelin?

Finnish does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So puhelin can mean:

• a phone
• the phone

The exact meaning depends on context.

Here, because of tämä (this), the phrase often feels more definite in context:

• Tämä on puhelin... = This is a phone... or This is the phone...

English must choose between a and the, but Finnish does not.

Why does the sentence start with Tämä on?

Tämä on means This is.

• tämä = this
• on = is

So the sentence begins by identifying something:

• Tämä on puhelin... = This is a phone... / This is the phone...

It is a very common way to introduce or point out something in Finnish.

What does on mean here?

On is the 3rd person singular form of olla (to be).

So:

• olla = to be
• on = is

Examples:

• Tämä on kirja. = This is a book.
• Hän on täällä. = He/She is here.

Why is there a comma before jolla?

Because jolla soitan siskolleni is a relative clause describing puhelin.

Finnish normally separates relative clauses with a comma:

• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.

This is similar to written English, where a relative clause may also be marked off, though English punctuation rules are not exactly the same.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes, Finnish word order is somewhat flexible, but the original sentence is the most neutral.

For example:

• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni.
• Tämä on puhelin, jolla minä soitan siskolleni.

Adding minä gives extra emphasis to I.

You could also move things around in some contexts, but the basic meaning stays the same because the case endings show the grammatical roles.

Does jolla always mean with which?

No. Because it is the adessive form of joka, it can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• on which
• at which
• with which
• by means of which

Examples:

• pöytä, jolla kirja on = the table on which the book is
• väline, jolla työ tehdään = the tool with which the work is done

In your sentence, because a phone is being used as a tool, with which / by which is the right interpretation.

How would this sentence look without the relative clause?

A simpler version would be:

• Soitan siskolleni tällä puhelimella.

This means:

• I call my sister with this phone.

Compare:

• Soitan siskolleni tällä puhelimella. = simple statement
• Tämä on puhelin, jolla soitan siskolleni. = identifies the phone by describing what you do with it

So the original sentence is basically a more descriptive version of the same idea.

Is puhelin singular or plural?

It is singular.

• puhelin = phone
• plural nominative: puhelimet = phones

In the sentence, puhelin is singular because it refers to one phone:

• Tämä on puhelin... = This is a phone / the phone...

What is the basic grammar pattern of this sentence?

The pattern is:

• Tämä on X, jolla Y.

More specifically:

• Tämä on puhelin = This is a phone
• jolla soitan siskolleni = with which I call my sister

So the full structure is:

1. name or identify something
2. add a relative clause that describes it

You can build many similar sentences this way:

• Tässä on kynä, jolla kirjoitan. = Here is the pen I write with.
• Tuo on auto, jolla menen töihin. = That is the car I go to work in / with.