# can I go outside and come right back



## Extra Virgin Olive Oil

During a lecture or some discussion in a room, I'd like to say that I'll go outside for a while and come right back to the person who's in charge of the room. How can I say?

"Tulen takaisin heti." (?)

Or would it be OK to go without saying anything?


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## Gavril

_Saanko käydä (hetken) ulkona? Tulen heti takaisin.
_
If you use _hetken _in the first sentence (_Saanko käydä hetken ulkona_), you can omit the second sentence.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you whether this kind of request is considered polite in Finland, or whether it would be seen as unnecessary.


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## Grumpy Old Man

When I think back to the days when I attended Professor Päivö Oksala's lectures on Latin syntax in Helsinki University's lecture room Porthania I, I don't think it would have been appropriate to say anything should I for some reason have needed to excuse myself for a while.  That's because the room holds about 560 students.  If it's a small room, one of these would be fine:

_Anteeksi, poistun hetkeksi.
Palaan pian. / Tulen pian takaisin. 
_
I don't think the lecturer or the chairman would deny my request in any circumstances, and that's why I wouldn't actually ask for permission to leave at all because it would force him to reply — and consequently interrupt him.

Gavril's _käydä hetken_ doesn't sound good to my ear in this context, I just don't know why. Perhaps someone else has an explanation. The collocation is fine in many other contexts, such as ice hockey: _Pelaaja kävi hetken kuumana._ (Perhaps it's just my poor ear. I remember Hakro mentioning its deficiencies in another thread.)


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## Gavril

Hi GOM,

Just out of curiosity, is it the word _hetken _(as opposed to _hetkeksi_) that sounds incorrect, or the whole phrase _Käydä hetken/hetkeksi ulkona_?

Regardless, this has gotten me curious about the difference between _hetken_ and _hetkeksi_, so I decided to start a separate thread.


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> Hi GOM,
> 
> Just out of curiosity, is it the word _hetken _(as opposed to _hetkeksi_) that sounds incorrect, or the whole phrase _Käydä hetken/hetkeksi ulkona_?


_Saanko käydä hetkeksi ulkona?_ is better but I would avoid even that.  I don't know why.  _Saanko mennä hetkeksi ulos?_ sounds OK to me. _Ulos_ may of course mean that I'm going outdoors but context would make it clear that don't have that in mind.


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