Study guide
When, and for how long. Finnish has no case of its own for time: it says time with the endings you use for places and the forms you use for objects. So the hard part isn’t new endings. It’s knowing which of three things you’re placing on the timeline: a point, an edge or a length (and, in a negative sentence, a gap).
Before you read
Guess first, before the map below gives anything away. Wrong guesses make the explanations stick; the answers, and what your misses say, come after the eighth sentence.
You mean: Seven days before today.
Tilasin lentoliput .
The whole page on one line
Each phrase is drawn as what it puts on the line: a dot, a bracket, a bar. The short upright line is now, and ✓ marks something done within the time. Amber points from, blue points to, green is inside, grey points nowhere. Tap a phrase to go to its part.
The idea
Every phrase on the textbook’s two pages is built from one of three systems you already use. Once you see which one a phrase belongs to, its ending is no longer something to memorise.
The direction endings
Helsingistä Tampereelleaamusta iltaan
A start is where you come from (-sta), an end is where you go to (-Vn), a stretch is in (-ssa). Like a trip.
Genitive + a little word
talon edessäviikon kuluttua
A landmark in the genitive, then a word for where you are next to it. In time, the landmark is the length: через неделю.
A measure counts like an object
Ostin kirjan.Odotin tunnin.
One whole takes -n, a number takes the partitive. Russian counts time without a preposition too: ждал час, три года.
The model
To choose a time phrase, ask two things, in this order.
The map is this model. Its three columns answer the first question; the colours answer the second, with the place cases’ colours: a start is amber like Helsingistä, an end is blue like Tampereelle, inside is green like Helsingissä. When you pick wrong in practice, the feedback names the question you missed.
The cards below use the textbook’s abbreviations. Each one is an ending you already know:
Part 1 · Milloin?
A point is a moment. You say where it sits: back from now, forward from now, around a time, or somewhere inside a period. The landmark takes the genitive and a little word after it, like talon edessä, except with sitten.
ago · назад
Tilasin lentoliput viikko sitten.I ordered the plane tickets a week ago. · неделю назад
Tilaus lähetettiin neljä päivää sitten.The order was sent four days ago. · четыре дня назад
Counts back from now, with the plain count: viikko sitten, neljä päivää sitten. The little words that count forward take the genitive instead: viikon kuluttua.
in (a time from now), … later · через; спустя
talon edessäviikon kuluttua
Lähdemme lomalle viikon kuluttua.We’re going on holiday in a week. · через неделю
Tulethan kastelemaan kukat viimeistään neljän päivän päästä!You’ll come and water the flowers in four days at the latest, won’t you? · через четыре дня
Saavuimme mökille, ja hetken kuluttua alkoi sataa.We got to the cottage, and a moment later it started to rain. · спустя минуту
Counts forward, from now or from any moment in a story: hetken kuluttua alkoi sataa is a moment later. Päästä means the same and is the usual word in speech. Like talon edessä, the landmark takes the genitive: kahden viikon kuluttua.
around, about (a time) · около
talon edessäkahden aikoihin
Tulen kahden aikoihin.I’ll come around two. · около двух
Syömme päivällistä viiden maissa.We’ll have dinner around five. · часов в пять
Mennäänkö kävelylle joskus kolmen paikkeilla?Shall we go for a walk sometime around three? · около трёх
Three ways to say about the same time. Maissa goes mostly with clock times, aikoihin with other times too (samoihin aikoihin, around the same time), and paikkeilla with places as well. The number before them takes the genitive: kahden, not kaksi.
during, within · во время; за
Loman aikana luin monta hyvää kirjaa.During the holiday I read lots of good books. · во время отпуска
Tutustuin illan aikana moniin mielenkiintoisiin ihmisiin.During the evening I got to know lots of interesting people. · за вечер
Something happens inside the period, at one point or several. A stretch that fills the whole period is a measure instead: Satoi koko päivän, it rained all day.
Only sitten keeps the plain count: kolme vuotta sitten. Everything else declines the number with the noun.
Check
Tulen (kaksi) aikoihin.
Part 2 · Mistä? Mihin?
An edge is where a stretch starts or stops. The start takes -sta and the end -Vn, exactly like a trip: aamusta iltaan, Helsingistä Tampereelle. The textbook files these under Kuinka kauan?, because edges are one way to say how long something lasts.
since, from (then on) · с
Vaasasta astiaamusta asti
Olen odottanut sinua neljästä saakka!I’ve been waiting for you since four! · с четырёх
Mistä asti sinä olet opiskellut täällä?Since when have you been studying here? · с каких пор
Minulla on ollut aamusta lähtien kamala päänsärky.I’ve had a terrible headache since the morning. · с утра
Matti on ollut töissä aamukuudesta alkaen.Matti has been at work since six in the morning. · с шести утра
The -sta is the start, and any of the four words after it means from then on. Asti and saakka only mean all the way: after -sta they mean since, after -Vn until. In space too: Vaasasta asti, all the way from Vaasa.
until, up to · до
Vaasaan astiiltaan asti
Tänään olen töissä iltaan saakka.Today I’m at work until the evening. · до вечера
Kurssi kestää joulukuuhun asti.The course lasts until December. · до декабря
The -Vn is the end: something lasts and stops there. For something that happens once, before a point, Finnish says mennessä. Russian до covers both.
from … to … · с … до …
Helsingistä Tampereelleaamusta iltaan
Eilen tein töitä aamusta iltaan.Yesterday I worked from morning to night. · с утра до вечера
Suomi oli osa Venäjää vuodesta 1809 vuoteen 1917.Finland was part of Russia from 1809 to 1917. · с 1809 по 1917 год
Both edges at once, with the same endings as a trip: Helsingistä Tampereelle, aamusta iltaan.
by (at the latest) · к
Kevääseen mennessä Emmi on varmasti oppinut lukemaan.By the spring Emmi will surely have learnt to read. · к весне
Palaamme juhlista aamuun mennessä.We’ll be back from the party by the morning. · к утру
Something happens once, at some point before the deadline. Something that lasts until a point takes asti. Russian к is mennessä, but до can be either.
by (a clock time or a day) · к
Tule kahdeksaksi!Come by eight! · к восьми
Sinun täytyy ehtiä työhön yhdeksäksi.You have to get to work by nine. · к девяти
With a clock time, -ksi is the time to be there or ready by: Tule kahdeksaksi = Tule kahdeksaan mennessä. Eight o’clock itself, the answer to Moneltako?, is kahdeksalta.
Ask whether it lasts up to the point (asti) or happens once before it (mennessä). Russian к is always the deadline: mennessä, or -ksi with a clock time or a day.
At eight sharp, the answer to Moneltako?, is kahdeksalta.
Check
Voit jäädä meille .
Part 3 · Kuinka kauan?
A length is how long. With no ending of its own when it simply went on, counted like an object; with -ksi when it was the plan; with -ssa when it’s how long something took to get done.
for (a length) · год, три года (без предлога)
Ostin kirjan.Odotin tunnin.
Olen opiskellut suomea vuoden.I’ve been studying Finnish for a year. · год
Olen opiskellut suomea kolme vuotta.I’ve been studying Finnish for three years. · три года
Odotin ystävääni tunnin.I waited for my friend for an hour. · час
Odotin ystävääni kaksi tuntia.I waited for my friend for two hours. · два часа
A length counts like an object. One whole unit takes -n, the form the textbook calls G: tunnin, as in luin kirjan. A number takes the partitive: kaksi tuntia, as in kaksi kirjaa. Koko counts as one whole: koko päivän.
for (a planned length) · на
Otto lähti kahdeksi vuodeksi töihin Singaporeen.Otto went to work in Singapore for two years. · на два года
Voin jäädä vain hetkeksi.I can only stay for a moment. · на минутку
Lähdin Tukholmaan neljäksi päiväksi.I went to Stockholm for four days. · на четыре дня
The length you plan when you set off, arrive or borrow: lähteä, tulla, jäädä, lainata. How it actually went is a measure: Otto oli Singaporessa kaksi vuotta. Russian на makes the same split.
in (the time it takes) · за
Luin kirjan kahdessa päivässä.I read the book in two days. · за два дня
Saat tulokset kahdessa viikossa.You’ll get the results within two weeks. · за две недели
How long it takes to get something done. If it doesn’t get done, measure it: Luin kirjaa kaksi päivää. English in also means from now, which is kuluttua.
Check
Tulin Suomeen vain , mutta jäin tänne.
Part 4 · En ole… vuoteen
A negative sentence turns a length into a gap: a stretch of not happening. One phrase for while it lasts, one for when it ends, and they point opposite ways.
for (how long something hasn’t happened) · уже … не
En ole käynyt kotimaassani vuoteen.I haven’t been to my home country for a year. · уже год не был
En ole nähnyt äitiäni kahteen kuukauteen.I haven’t seen my mother for two months. · два месяца не видел
En ole tupakoinut kolmeen vuoteen.I haven’t smoked for three years. · уже три года не курю
In a negative sentence, the stretch of not doing it runs up to now, so it points to now: -Vn, the whole phrase. English for and Russian год don’t change between yes and no; Finnish does.
after a long time / not for a long time · впервые за долгое время / давно не
Mukava nähdä pitkästä aikaa!Nice to see you after so long! · сто лет не виделись
Emme ole tavanneet pitkään aikaan!We haven’t met in a long time! · давно не виделись
When the long gap ends, you come out of it: pitkästä aikaa. While it lasts, in a negative sentence, it runs up to now: pitkään aikaan, the same -Vn as vuoteen.
Check
Hei! Mukava nähdä !
By ear
Finnish stresses the first syllable, so the ending that carries all of this is the quietest part of the phrase: neljästä and neljään differ in one unstressed syllable. These are the sentences from the sets above, heard and not read. Practice gets to hearing too, but one sentence at a time as you get it right; here every sentence is heard from the start. Replay as often as you like, and turn on Slower when you need it.
11 sentences, in a new order each time.
This device has no Finnish voice, so the sentences are shown instead of played. On a Mac or iPhone, add one under Spoken Content in the accessibility settings; on Windows, under Settings › Time & language › Speech; on Android, install Finnish voice data in the text-to-speech settings. Recorded voices are on their way.
In the wild
Three press releases from this year. Tap the underlined phrases. Dates are written as digits but read with the ending on the ordinal: 10. elokuuta alkaen is kymmenennestä elokuuta alkaen.
Joukkoliikenteen aikataulut muuttuvat HSL-alueella
on muutoksia juna-, ratikka- ja bussiliikenteessä.
Lisäksi I- ja P-junat kulkevat harvennetulla 20 minuutin vuorovälillä osuudella Helsinki–Huopalahti–Myyrmäki Malminkartanon tunnelin työmaan takia.
Tuomarilan asema pysyy suljettuna tämän hetken tietojen mukaan .
Länsiratikoiden rakentamistyöt vaikuttavat ratikoiden 1, 2 ja 8 reitteihin arviolta .
Taubert on työskennellyt Ylen Uutiset ja urheilu -yksikön johtajan ja vastaavan päätoimittajan sijaisena .
”Olen hoitanut tehtävää sijaisena ja tiedän mihin ryhdyn.”
järjestetään myös esittelyitä Ylen uutis- ja urheilutoimitukseen sekä puvuston ja rekvisiitan kiehtoviin maailmoihin…
Strömsön porukka puolestaan saapuu paistamaan lettuja ja tapaamaan ihmisiä.
Summary
Everything above on one card. Screenshot it, or copy it into your notebook.
Retrieval
Rounds of ten from all 58 sentences, missed and due ones first. As you get a sentence right on different days it moves from picking to typing, then to hearing it, then to saying it.
58 sentences in four parts.
Production
Pick a prompt and answer it in a few sentences. Say it aloud if you can, fix what the recogniser misheard, then let Claude check only the time phrases.
Spacing
Do a practice round today, then come back in two days. Missed items return first.
The concept page, Time phrases, collects these with the time phrases from every other lesson, and Review mixes them with everything else you’ve practised.