diff --git a/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go b/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
index 913210c..84d486b 100644
--- a/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
+++ b/internal/phraser/llmphraser.go
@@ -512,19 +512,40 @@ func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseQuery(ctx context.Context, utterance string, notes []
 // message array from dialogue history + the current user utterance. On any LLM
 // error it returns both ChatFallback and the error, on the same rule as
 // PhraseQuery: the fallback keeps the turn alive, the error stays visible.
+// chatUserMessage folds the prior turns and the current one into a single user
+// message, because some chat templates (Ministral and others) reject two user
+// turns in a row. That constraint is real; what was wrong is how it was met.
+//
+// The turns used to be joined with newlines and nothing else, so the model was
+// handed four unlabelled lines and no way to tell which one it was answering
+// (Vikunja #554). It answered an earlier one, or answered all of them at once:
+// asked "как дела" after a question about the telephone, she carried on about
+// the telephone. Four turns live for fifteen minutes, so the wrong line was
+// often several minutes old.
+//
+// The history holds only his own utterances, never her replies, so the label
+// says so and stays in the second person the persona requires. With no history
+// the message is the utterance alone, which is the common case and unchanged.
+func chatUserMessage(utterance string, history []dialogue.Turn) string {
+	prior := make([]string, 0, len(history))
+	for _, t := range history {
+		if s := strings.TrimSpace(t.Text); s != "" {
+			prior = append(prior, "- "+s)
+		}
+	}
+	if len(prior) == 0 {
+		return strings.TrimSpace(utterance)
+	}
+	return "Раньше ты говорил:\n" + strings.Join(prior, "\n") +
+		"\n\nОтветь только на то, что ты говоришь сейчас: " + strings.TrimSpace(utterance)
+}
+
 func (p *LLMPhraser) PhraseChat(ctx context.Context, utterance string, history []dialogue.Turn) (string, error) {
 	sys := chatSystemPrompt(p.cfg.ContextBlock)
 	msgs := []chatMsg{
 		{Role: "system", Content: sys},
 	}
-	// Combine history and current utterance into one user message.
-	// Some model chat templates (Ministral, etc.) reject consecutive user turns.
-	var combined string
-	for _, t := range history {
-		combined += t.Text + "\n"
-	}
-	combined += utterance
-	msgs = append(msgs, chatMsg{Role: "user", Content: strings.TrimSpace(combined)})
+	msgs = append(msgs, chatMsg{Role: "user", Content: chatUserMessage(utterance, history)})
 
 	resp, err := p.chatWithMessages(ctx, msgs, 768)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/phraser/llmphraser_chatmsg_test.go b/internal/phraser/llmphraser_chatmsg_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..466efb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/phraser/llmphraser_chatmsg_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package phraser
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/dialogue"
+)
+
+// TestChatUserMessageMarksWhichTurnToAnswer — Vikunja #554. Four prior turns
+// were joined with newlines and nothing else, so nothing in the message said
+// which line was the question.
+func TestChatUserMessageMarksWhichTurnToAnswer(t *testing.T) {
+	got := chatUserMessage("как дела", []dialogue.Turn{
+		{Text: "кто изобрёл телефон"},
+		{Text: "а когда это было"},
+	})
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "кто изобрёл телефон") {
+		t.Error("the prior turns must survive — they are what anaphora reads")
+	}
+	now := strings.LastIndex(got, "как дела")
+	if now < strings.Index(got, "кто изобрёл телефон") {
+		t.Error("the current utterance must come last, after the turns it follows")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, "Раньше ты говорил") {
+		t.Errorf("the prior turns must be labelled as prior: %q", got)
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(got, " вы ") || strings.Contains(got, "Вы ") {
+		t.Errorf("the persona addresses him informally: %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestChatUserMessageWithNoHistoryIsJustTheUtterance — the common case must not
+// grow a preamble that the model then has to see past.
+func TestChatUserMessageWithNoHistoryIsJustTheUtterance(t *testing.T) {
+	if got := chatUserMessage("  привет  ", nil); got != "привет" {
+		t.Errorf("chatUserMessage = %q, want %q", got, "привет")
+	}
+	if got := chatUserMessage("привет", []dialogue.Turn{{Text: "   "}}); got != "привет" {
+		t.Errorf("a blank prior turn must not label anything: %q", got)
+	}
+}