Questions & Answers about Juna lähtee täältä kello kuusi.
Why is lähtee in the present tense if the sentence talks about a future event?
In Finnish, the present tense is often used for future events when the time is clear from context. Here, kello kuusi makes it obvious that the departure happens at six o’clock, so Finnish does not need a separate future tense.
So Juna lähtee täältä kello kuusi literally looks like The train leaves from here at six o’clock, but it can naturally mean The train leaves here at six o’clock or The train will leave here at six o’clock.
What form is juna, and why doesn’t it have an ending?
Juna is in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form. It is the subject of the sentence.
Finnish often leaves the subject in the basic form when it is doing the action:
- juna lähtee = the train leaves
- bussi tulee = the bus comes
There is no article in Finnish, so juna can mean a train or the train, depending on context.
What does lähtee mean exactly?