Minulla on kiire tänään.

I am in a hurry today.

Breakdown of Minulla on kiire tänään.

• minä: I
• olla: to be
• tänään: today
• kiire: the hurry

Questions & Answers about Minulla on kiire tänään.

Why is it Minulla on kiire instead of something like Olen kiire?

In Finnish, expressing that you are in a hurry works differently from English. Instead of saying "I am in a hurry," Finnish literally says "There is hurry at me." The pronoun minä (I) appears in the adessive case as minulla (at me), plus the verb on (is), and the noun kiire (hurry).

What role does tänään play in the sentence?

Tänään simply specifies "today." It doesn’t change the structure of the sentence. You could remove tänään and still have a valid sentence: Minulla on kiire.

Why does the sentence use minulla with an -lla ending?

In Finnish, the -lla ending (adessive case) can imply possession or a state of having. Thus, minulla on means "I have" (literally, "on at me"). This usage is common for saying you "have" an object or condition.

Can I use different verb forms for on here?

Not in this basic phrase. For stating a personal condition or possession, we stick with on, the third-person singular form of "olla," because it pairs with minulla (the adessive form of "minä"). You only change the adessive pronoun (e.g., sinulla on, hänellä on) if referring to someone else.

Is it common to add extra words or phrases to expand on Kiire?

Yes, you can specify why you’re in a hurry. For example, Minulla on kiire töihin ("I’m in a hurry to work") or Minulla on kova kiire ("I’m in a big hurry"). The core structure remains Minulla on kiire, then you just add details as needed.