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Questions & Answers about Minä haluan työskennellä kotona.
Do I need to include the subject pronoun Minä, or can I just say Haluan työskennellä kotona?
You can drop the pronoun. Finnish verb endings already show the subject, so the neutral version is Haluan työskennellä kotona. Use Minä for emphasis or contrast, e.g., Minä haluan, mutta hän ei halua (I want, but he/she doesn’t).
Why is it työskennellä after haluan and not työskentelen?
After verbs like haluta (to want), voida (can), aikoa (to intend), you use the dictionary/base form (the A-infinitive). So: Haluan työskennellä, Haluan syödä, Haluan nukkua. Using a personal form (työskentelen) would be ungrammatical here.
What does the -n in haluan mean?
-n marks 1st person singular present. The present of haluta is:
- minä haluan
- sinä haluat
- hän haluaa
- me haluamme
- te haluatte
- he haluavat
How can I make this more polite, like “I would like to work at home”?
Use the conditional: Haluaisin työskennellä kotona. The -isi- element marks the conditional and softens the tone.
What exactly is kotona, and why not kotissa or kodissa?
With koti (home), Finnish uses special local forms:
- kotiin = to home (direction in)
- kotona = at home (location)
- kotoa = from home (direction out) You don’t say kotissa to mean “at home.” Kodissa exists but is rare and tends to be used in compounds like vanhainkodissa (in a retirement home).
How do I say “to home” and “from home” to go with “at home” (kotona)?
- To home: kotiin (e.g., Haluan mennä kotiin)
- At home: kotona (e.g., Olen kotona)
- From home: kotoa (e.g., Lähden kotoa)
Is työskennellä the only way to say “to work”?
No. Common options:
- työskennellä = to work (be engaged in work), e.g., Työskentelen kotona.
- tehdä töitä = to do (some) work, e.g., Teen töitä kotona. Very common and natural.
- olla töissä = to be at work (employed/on duty), e.g., Olen töissä kotona (I work from home). All are fine; nuances differ slightly.
Is the -lla at the end of työskennellä the same as the case ending “on/at” (like pöydällä)?
No. The -lla/-llä you see in verbs like työskennellä, opiskella, pestä, mennä etc. is part of the verb type (Type 3) and not a case ending. It doesn’t mean “on/at” here.
Can I say Minä haluan työskennellä kotonani to mean “at my home”?
Yes. kotonani adds the possessive suffix “my” to “at home.” It’s correct but a bit more specific or formal. In most everyday contexts, plain kotona already implies your own home if the context is you.
Can I change the word order, e.g., Kotona haluan työskennellä?
Yes. Finnish allows flexible word order for emphasis:
- Neutral: Haluan työskennellä kotona.
- Emphasize location: Kotona haluan työskennellä. Placing kotona between the verbs (Haluan kotona työskennellä) is possible but less typical than fronting it for focus.
How would I say “I don’t want to work at home”?
Use the negative verb plus the connegative form of the main verb:
- En halua työskennellä kotona. Here en is the 1st person negative, and halua is the connegative stem.
How do I pronounce the special vowels in Minä and työskennellä?
- ä: like “a” in “cat” (short), or “aa” in “cat” but lengthened if doubled (ää).
- ö: like French “eu” in “peur”.
- y: like French “u” in “lune” (rounded front vowel). Stress is always on the first syllable: MInä, TYÖskennellä. Double consonants (nn, ll) are held longer than single ones.
Does Finnish need articles like “a/the” here?
No. Finnish has no articles. kotona simply means “at home” (no “the” needed).
Would tahtoa work instead of haluta?
You could say Minä tahdon työskennellä kotona, but tahtoa is more old-fashioned or can sound forceful; haluta is the everyday, neutral choice.
Is there a more idiomatic way to refer to remote work?
Yes. Common phrases:
- tehdä etätöitä = do remote work
- työskennellä etänä = work remotely So you can say Haluaisin tehdä etätöitä or Haluaisin työskennellä etänä (kotona).
What would this look like in everyday spoken Finnish?
Colloquially you’ll hear:
- Mä haluun työskennellä kotona. Even more common with the “do work” phrase:
- Mä haluun tehdä töitä kotona. Here minä → mä and haluan → haluun are typical spoken forms.