Minä vaihdan tämän paidan uuteen.

I will change this shirt for a new one.

Breakdown of Minä vaihdan tämän paidan uuteen.

• minä: I
• tämä: this
• uusi: new
• paita: the shirt
• -een: to
• vaihtaa: to change

Questions & Answers about Minä vaihdan tämän paidan uuteen.

What is the infinitive form of vaihdan and how is the 1st person singular present formed?

The infinitive is vaihtaa and it means to change/exchange. To form the 1st person singular present:

1. Remove one -a from the end (type I verb pattern).
2. Apply consonant gradation: strong grade ht becomes weak grade hd, giving the stem vaihda-.
3. Add the personal ending -n.
   Result: vaihdan (I change / I am changing).

Why is vaihdan spelled with hd instead of ht like in vaihtaa?

Because of consonant gradation, a phonological alternation in Finnish. In certain forms (like the 1st person present) the strong grade ht weakens to hd, so vaihtaa → vaihda- + -n → vaihdan.

Which case is tämän paidan in, and why isn’t it just tämä paita?

Tämän paidan is the accusative (definite) form of the direct object, identical in form to the genitive. Since you’re changing a specific, whole shirt, both the demonstrative and the noun take the case ending: tämä → tämän, paita → paidan. The base form tämä paita (nominative) would not mark it as the object here.

Why isn’t the object in the partitive case (like tätä paitaa)?

The partitive indicates an incomplete or ongoing action or a partial/indefinite object. Here the action is complete and the object is definite (the whole shirt), so Finnish uses the accusative/definite form tämän paidan rather than partitive tätä paitaa.

What case is uuteen, and what function does it serve in this sentence?

Uuteen is the singular illative of uusi and marks movement or change into something. Here it means into a new one (i.e. exchanging the old shirt for a new shirt).

Why is there no noun after uuteen?

Finnish often omits a repeated noun when context is clear. The full form would be uuteen paitaan (into a new shirt), but since paita was already mentioned, only the adjective uuteen with its case ending is used.

Why is the pronoun minä included? Can it be left out?

Verb endings already indicate person and number, so subject pronouns are optional. Minä is used here for emphasis or clarity. You can omit it and say Vaihdan tämän paidan uuteen and it still means I am changing this shirt into a new one.

Can you change the word order of Minä vaihdan tämän paidan uuteen, or is it fixed?

Finnish has fairly free word order. The neutral order is S-V-O, but you can move elements for emphasis:

• Tämän paidan vaihdan uuteen. (Emphasizes which shirt.)
• Minä vaihdan uuteen tämän paidan. (Emphasizes the result into a new one.)
  All are grammatically correct; only the focus shifts.

How does one express future actions in Finnish, since vaihdan is present tense?

Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense can refer to future or planned actions. To add clarity you can use time words or aikoa + infinitive:
Minä aion vaihtaa tämän paidan uuteen huomenna (I plan to change this shirt into a new one tomorrow).

Why are there no articles equivalent to a or the in this Finnish sentence?

Finnish has no articles. Definiteness and indefiniteness come from context, word order, case marking, and use of demonstratives like tämä. Here tämän paidan is definite, and uuteen implies into a new one without an article.