Pidän tästä kahvilasta, koska se on rauhallinen.

Pidän is the 1st person singular form of the verb pitää.

• pitää = to like, to keep, to hold, or to have to, depending on context
• pidän = I like / I hold / I keep

In this sentence, because it is followed by -sta/-stä forms (tästä kahvilasta), it means to like.

A few forms of pitää:

• minä pidän = I like
• sinä pidät = you like
• hän pitää = he/she likes
• me pidämme = we like

So pidän specifically means I like here.

This is just how the verb pitää works when it means to like. It requires its object of liking to be in the elative case, usually with the ending -sta or -stä.

So Finnish says, literally, something like:

• I like from this café

But in natural English, that simply means:

• I like this café

This is a very common pattern in Finnish, because many verbs require a particular case after them.

Examples:

• Pidän kahvista. = I like coffee.
• Pidän musiikista. = I like music.
• Pidän tästä paikasta. = I like this place.

So the important thing to remember is:

• pitää meaning to like
  • elative case (-sta/-stä)

Tästä kahvilasta means this café in the structure required by pitää.

Both words are needed because:

• tästä = from this / this in the required case
• kahvilasta = from the café / café in the required case

Together they form:

• tästä kahvilasta = this café

This is similar to how adjectives and determiners agree with nouns in many languages. In Finnish, when a noun phrase goes into a case, the other words connected to it usually also take that case.

Compare:

• tämä kahvila = this café
• tästä kahvilasta = this café, in the elative form required by pitää

So both words change because they belong together.

They are in the elative case.

The elative often has the meaning out of / from, and its ending is usually:

• -sta
• -stä

Here:

• tämä → tästä
• kahvila → kahvilasta

Why -sta in kahvilasta?

• kahvila has back vowels (a), so it takes -sta

Why -stä in tästä?

• tämä has front vowels (ä), so it takes -stä

This front/back vowel pattern is called vowel harmony, and it affects many Finnish endings.

Because tämä is a pronoun, and pronouns often have forms that must simply be learned.

The basic form is:

• tämä = this

Its elative form is:

• tästä = from this

Other forms of tämä include:

• tämän = this (genitive)
• tässä = in this
• tästä = from this
• tähän = into this

So yes, tästä is not built in a completely transparent way for a beginner. It is a normal, standard form, but it is best memorized as part of the declension of tämä.

Koska means because in this sentence.

It introduces the reason:

• Pidän tästä kahvilasta = I like this café
• koska se on rauhallinen = because it is peaceful

Be careful: koska can also mean when in some contexts, especially in questions or indirect questions.

Examples:

• Koska tulet? = When are you coming?
• Pidän tästä kahvilasta, koska se on rauhallinen. = I like this café because it is peaceful.

So the meaning depends on the sentence structure and context.

Yes. Here se means it, referring to kahvila (café).

So:

• se on rauhallinen = it is peaceful

In Finnish, se is commonly used for things, places, and also very often for people in everyday spoken language. In standard written Finnish, using se for a thing like a café is completely normal.

Here it refers back to the café:

• kahvila = café
• se = it

Because rauhallinen is a predicate adjective after the verb on.

In sentences like:

• Se on rauhallinen. = It is peaceful.

the adjective usually appears in the nominative singular when the subject is singular.

So:

• se = singular
• rauhallinen = singular nominative form

You might see rauhallista in other structures, but not normally in this sentence type.

Compare:

• Se on rauhallinen. = It is peaceful.
• Täällä on rauhallista. = It is peaceful here / It’s quiet here.

The second sentence is a different structure, so the adjective form changes.

Rauhallinen is an adjective meaning peaceful, calm, or quiet depending on context.

It comes from:

• rauha = peace

The ending -llinen is a common adjective-forming ending in Finnish.

Some similar adjectives:

• iloinen = happy
• surullinen = sad
• tavallinen = ordinary
• rauhallinen = peaceful

So rauhallinen describes what kind of place the café is.

The given word order is the most natural and neutral one:

• Pidän tästä kahvilasta, koska se on rauhallinen.

Finnish word order is often more flexible than English word order, but not completely free. The normal order here is:

1. main clause
2. reason clause introduced by koska

You may sometimes see emphasis changes, but for a learner, this version is the best one to use.

For example:

• Koska se on rauhallinen, pidän tästä kahvilasta.

This is also possible, but it feels more marked or stylistically different. The original sentence is the most straightforward.

Yes. Pitää is a very common Finnish verb with several meanings.

Some important ones are:

• pitää jostakin = to like something

  • Pidän tästä kahvilasta. = I like this café.

• pitää jotakin = to hold/keep something

  • Pidän kirjaa kädessäni. = I am holding a book in my hand.

• pitää tehdä = to have to / must

  • Minun pitää lähteä. = I have to leave.

So when you see pitää, always check what comes after it:

• -sta/-stä phrase → usually like
• infinitive verb → usually have to
• direct object → often hold/keep

Yes, absolutely.

• Pidän tästä kahvilasta = I like this café.
• Minä pidän tästä kahvilasta = I like this café.

Finnish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here, pidän already tells us the subject is I, so minä is optional.

You add minä only if you want emphasis, contrast, or extra clarity.

For example:

• Minä pidän tästä kahvilasta, mutta ystäväni ei pidä. = I like this café, but my friend doesn’t.

A very literal breakdown would be:

• Pidän = I like
• tästä = from this
• kahvilasta = from the café
• koska = because
• se = it
• on = is
• rauhallinen = peaceful

So a very literal version would be:

• I like from this café, because it is peaceful.

That is not natural English, but it helps show the Finnish grammar:

• pitää meaning like uses the elative case
• se on rauhallinen is a straightforward it is peaceful clause