Haluaisin opiskella nyt, mutta minulla ei ole aikaa.

I would like to study now, but I don’t have time.

Breakdown of Haluaisin opiskella nyt, mutta minulla ei ole aikaa.

• minä: I
• nyt: now
• mutta: but
• haluta: to want
• opiskella: to study
• aika: the time

Questions & Answers about Haluaisin opiskella nyt, mutta minulla ei ole aikaa.

Why do we use Haluaisin instead of Haluan?

Because Haluaisin is the conditional form of the verb haluta (to want). It conveys a more polite or tentative meaning, similar to "I would like" in English, as opposed to Haluan, which is more direct ("I want").

Why is the verb opiskella in the infinitive form here?

After Haluaisin, you'll usually see the main action verb in its basic form (the 1st infinitive). So Haluaisin opiskella literally reads as "I would like to study." That structure is typical when expressing a desire or plan using haluta in Finnish.

What does the word nyt add to this sentence?

Nyt means "now," emphasizing that the speaker wants to study at this moment. You could also use other time expressions, like tällä hetkellä, but nyt is the most straightforward choice for "now."

Why do we say minulla ei ole aikaa instead of something like en ole aikaa?

Finnish uses the possessive structure minulla on ("I have") with negation ei ole ("I do not have") to talk about having or not having something. The sentence literally translates to "On me there is no time," which is just how possession and availability are expressed in Finnish.

Why is aikaa in the partitive case?

Time (aika) in this context is treated as an indefinite quantity (we're talking about an unspecified amount of available time). In Finnish, when something is not countable in a specific sense or is considered incomplete/indefinite, the partitive case (aikaa) is often used.