That went well, Yngvildr. Exactly the right case with Saksa. *G*
(You know we use both inessive and adessive with place names, and there is no rule except for sometimes figuring out what the word means, to come up with why it is "Helsingissä" but "Rovaniemellä." Perhaps because of what "niemi" means!)

Okay, let me stress a couple of points about the pronounciation of diftongs, double vowels, and consonants. This is very useful, and the question was really good.

In Finnish, the pronounciation of an alphabet or a syllable are never affected by their "surroundings." For example, in English there is a clear difference between "breath" and "breathe." In Finnish a difference such as that between "talo" and "talossa" (house, in a house) does not affect in any way other than there is more at the end of the second word when compared to the first word, namely, the three letters "ssa." What I am trying to say is that each vowel (and consonant) is always pronounced the same way, no matter if it is followed by a double or single consonant or whatever other ending. If there was such a word in Finnish as "taloe" (imitating "breathe"), it would differ from "talo" only because of the fact also the "e" sound (like in English "bend") would be pronounced in addition to "talo."

In addition, as I said, each alphabet matches one, and only one sound. So, "a" will always be pronounced as "a" (like u in "bun") whether it is followed or preceded by another letter or not. In French, for example, a with an u, that is, "au," would be pronounced as what a Finn would write "oo." In Finnish it is just "a" and "u," but in a row. (This also explains the fact why Finns are eager to tell French people their "au" is ACTUALLY "oo," but they just keep writing it the wrong way. Same, dear Yngvildr, goes to the German "ei," "eu," and "äu," for example. It REALLY is "ai," "oi," and again, "oi." *G*)

The lenght or sound when pronouncing of vowels and consonants does not depend on what surrounds them either; it depends only on whether there are one or two of them written down. A singular "a" followed by only one consonant, say, in the word "talo," is always short. And will stay short in, say, the word "talli" (stable). On the other hand, the double vowel "uu" in "suukotella" (to kiss (verb)) will not turn shorter (or longer) when it appears in the word "suukko" (a kiss (noun)).

I hope this appendix will help you figure it out - although I am quite certain Yngvildr, with her skills, doesn't need this lesson *G*