Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä haluan perua tilauksen.

Minä means I and marks the subject. In Finnish you usually drop the pronoun because the verb ending -n in haluan already indicates first-person singular. So Minä is optional and often omitted in everyday speech. You can just say Haluan perua tilauksen and it still means “I want to cancel the order.”

What form is perua? Why isn’t it perun or another conjugated form?

perua is the first infinitive (dictionary form) of the verb “to cancel.” After verbs of desire like haluta (to want), you use the infinitive of the next verb rather than a fully conjugated form. Hence:

haluan (1 sg. present of haluta) + perua (infinitive) = “I want to cancel.”

Why is the object tilauksen in the genitive case, not the partitive?

In Finnish, a direct object of a complete (telic) action takes genitive/accusative. You’re canceling the entire order, so you use tilauksen (genitive singular). If you were cancelling only part of an order (or speaking indefinitely), you’d use the partitive:

Partial/indefinite: Haluan perua tilausta.
Complete: Haluan perua tilauksen.

Can I also say Minä haluan peruuttaa tilauksen? What’s the difference between and ?