Breakdown of Olen jo siirtänyt kopion tietokoneelle.
minä
I
olla
to be
tietokone
the computer
-lle
to
siirtää
to move
kopio
the copy
jo
already
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Olen jo siirtänyt kopion tietokoneelle.
What does the -nut ending in siirtänyt indicate?
The -nut ending marks the past active participle of the verb siirtää (“to move/transfer”). In Finnish, you combine the auxiliary olla (“to be”) with this participle form to create the perfect tense. So olen siirtänyt literally means “I am (having) transferred,” i.e. “I have transferred.”
Why is kopion used instead of kopio or the partitive kopiota?
Here kopion is the accusative singular form, marked with -n, because you’re talking about moving one specific complete copy. Finnish uses the accusative (or “object” case) with -n when the action is viewed as complete. The partitive (kopiota) would be used if you referred to an incomplete action or an unspecified amount (e.g. “I have moved some of the copy”).
Why is tietokoneelle in the -lle form?
The -lle ending is the allative case, which expresses movement to or onto something. Here it shows the destination of the transfer: “to the computer.” If you used inessive (-ssa) you’d say tietokoneessa, meaning “in the computer,” not “to” it.
What role does jo play here, and why is it placed between olen and siirtänyt?
jo means “already.” In Finnish, adverbs like jo typically follow the first element of the sentence—in this case the auxiliary olen. Placing jo there gives you “I have already transferred…”
Why is the sentence in the perfect tense (olen siirtänyt) rather than the simple past (siirsin)?
Finnish perfect tense (with olla + participle) emphasizes that the result of the action is relevant now. Using siirsin kopion tietokoneelle (simple past) would just state a past fact: “I transferred the copy to the computer.” Olen siirtänyt… suggests “It’s done now” or “It’s already moved.”
Why is the subject pronoun minä omitted, and can I add it?
Finnish verb forms already encode person and number, so the pronoun minä (“I”) is optional. You can say Minä olen jo siirtänyt kopion tietokoneelle for emphasis, but it’s perfectly natural to drop minä.
Why are there no articles like a or the in this Finnish sentence?
Finnish doesn’t have definite or indefinite articles. Context and case endings (like the accusative -n) convey whether you mean “a copy,” “the copy,” or “one specific copy.”