Learn Hardcore Finnish: On turha mennä kauppaan, koska meillä on ruokaa kotona. - It is pointless to go to the store because we have food at home.

In Finnish you don’t need a dummy subject like it in English. To express “it is pointless…,” you simply start with On (“is”). There’s no separate word for “it” in this construction.

What exactly does turha mean, and how is it different from, say, hyödytön?

Turha means “pointless,” “useless,” or “unnecessary” in a context where doing something would be a waste of effort.

Hyödytön also means “useless,” but it focuses more on lacking any benefit or utility.
Turha emphasizes that the action won’t achieve anything worthwhile in the current situation.

Why is the infinitive mennä used here, and why not another verb form?

When you talk about the act of going somewhere in general, you use the basic infinitive mennä (“to go”). The structure On turha mennä… literally means “It is pointless to go….” You wouldn’t conjugate it because it isn’t referring to a specific person or time beyond the general idea.

Why is kauppaan in the illative case, and what does that case indicate?

Kauppaan is the illative case of kauppa (“shop/store”). The illative expresses motion “into” or “towards” something.

Kauppa (nominative) = shop (the concept or place)
Kauppaan (illative) = into/to the shop

What role does koska play here, and why isn’t it placed at the very beginning?

Koska means “because” and introduces the reason clause. Finnish typically uses koska mid-sentence to link two clauses. Starting with koska is possible but would shift the focus:

Koska meillä on ruokaa…, on turha mennä kauppaan.
That version is grammatically fine, but you lose the emphasis on the first clause.

How does the phrase meillä on work to mean “we have”?

Finnish doesn’t have a verb “to have.” Instead you say “at us is”:

meillä = “at us” (adessive case of me)
on = “is”
So meillä on ruokaa literally “there is food at us,” meaning “we have food.”

Why is ruokaa in the partitive case instead of the nominative?

You use the partitive (ruokaa) after on when expressing an unspecified amount or incomplete quantity. It’s like saying “some food.” If you were talking about a specific food item, you’d use nominative: ruoka.

What about kotona? Which case is that, and why is it used?

Kotona is the inessive case (“in/at home”). It tells you the location where the food is. So ruokaa kotona = “food at home.” If you left out location, it’d just say you have food, but kotona specifies where.