Learn Hardcore Finnish: Toimitus saapuu huomenna iltapäivällä.

Saapuu is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb saapua (“to arrive”). In Finnish, verbs in the present tense for hän (he/she/it) typically end in -u or -ä. So you take the infinitive saapua, remove -a, and add -uu → saapuu (“it arrives”).

Why is there no article (like “the” or “a”) before toimitus?

Finnish does not use definite or indefinite articles. A bare noun like toimitus can mean either “delivery” or “the delivery” depending on context. You simply rely on word order and context instead of articles.

What case is iltapäivällä in, and why is that case used?

Iltapäivällä is in the adessive case, marked by -lla/–llä. The adessive expresses location or time (“at,” “on,” “in”). When talking about parts of the day, you say aamulla (“in the morning”), iltapäivällä (“in the afternoon”), illalla (“in the evening”), etc.

Is huomenna a declined form, or something else?

Huomenna is an adverb meaning “tomorrow.” Adverbs in Finnish don’t take case endings like nouns do, so you’ll never see huomenna with extra suffixes—it already expresses “on the day after today.”

Why are there two time words—huomenna and iltapäivällä—in the sentence?

They serve different functions:

Huomenna (“tomorrow”) tells you which day.
Iltapäivällä (“in the afternoon”) tells you when on that day.
Combining them gives a precise time: “tomorrow in the afternoon.”

Can I move huomenna or iltapäivällä elsewhere in the sentence?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible. For example:

Huomenna toimitus saapuu iltapäivällä. (Tomorrow the delivery arrives in the afternoon.)
Toimitus saapuu iltapäivällä huomenna. (Still correct, but slightly less common.)
Time expressions often sit either at the very beginning or right before/after the verb for clarity.

What’s the difference between saapua and tulla when talking about arrival?

Saapua is more formal/neutral and often used for objects, shipments, events, schedules.
Tulla (“to come”) is more general and used for people or colloquial speech.
Since toimitus (delivery) is an inanimate shipment, saapuu is the natural choice.

Could we use iltapäivä instead of iltapäivällä?

No—iltapäivä is the base form (“afternoon” as a noun). To say “in the afternoon,” Finnish requires the adessive -llä: iltapäivällä. Without it, you’d simply be naming the period, not locating the action in it.

How would you say “by tomorrow afternoon”?

You’d use the illative case plus mennessä (“by, until”):
huomiseen iltapäivään mennessä

huominen → huomiseen (illative “into tomorrow”)
iltapäivä → iltapäivään (illative “into the afternoon”)
mennessä adds “by/until” → “by tomorrow afternoon.”