Breakdown of Mihin aikaan tulet hakemaan minut?
mikä
what
aika
time (concept, duration)
tulla
to come
minut
me
Questions & Answers about Mihin aikaan tulet hakemaan minut?
Why is the word for "to pick up" written as hakemaan instead of its basic form hakea?
Because it follows a verb of motion, tulet (you come). In Finnish, when you come or go somewhere to do an action, the second verb takes the third infinitive illative form. You take the strong stem of hakea and add the ending -maan.
Why does the question start with mihin aikaan instead of using a word like milloin (when)?
While milloin means "when" in a general sense, mihin aikaan specifically asks "at what time" (literally "into what time"). Finnish uses the illative (into) case for asking about and stating exact clock times.
Why is "me" translated as minut instead of the partitive form minua?
Because the action of picking you up will be entirely completed. When an action is complete, Finnish uses the total object. Personal pronouns like minä have a specific accusative form for this, which is minut.
The English translation says "are you coming", but isn't tulet just "you come"?
Yes, but Finnish does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. The basic present tense tulet covers both "you come" and "you are coming". Finnish also uses this present tense to talk about the future, which is why it means "are you coming (later)" here.