Questions & Answers about Minä tarvitsen paljon aikaa.
How do we get tarvitsen from its dictionary form?
The dictionary form is tarvita (to need). It belongs to Verb Type 5, which includes verbs ending in -ita or -itä. To make the stem for Type 5 verbs, you remove the final -a or -ä and add -se-. So tarvita becomes tarvitse-. Finally, you add the personal ending -n for I to get tarvitsen.
How would I make this sentence negative?
You use the negative verb en and the verb stem without any personal ending. Since the stem is tarvitse-, the negative form is simply en tarvitse. The full sentence becomes Minä en tarvitse paljon aikaa.
Why is the word for time aikaa instead of just aika?
The word paljon (a lot) always forces the noun that follows it into the partitive case. The basic dictionary form for time is aika. To make it partitive, we add an extra -a at the end, making it aikaa.
Is it okay to drop the word Minä?
Yes, it is completely optional! In Finnish, the -n at the end of tarvitsen already means I. It is very common to just say Tarvitsen paljon aikaa, unless you want to emphasize that I need time, rather than someone else.
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