Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä tarkistan sulkemisajan ennen lähtöä.

In Finnish, personal pronouns like minä (“I”) are indeed often dropped because the verb ending already indicates the subject. Here, Minä is included for emphasis or clarity (especially in written examples). In everyday speech you could simply say Tarkistan sulkemisajan ennen lähtöä.

What does tarkistan mean, and why this particular form?

Tarkistan is the first-person singular present form of the verb tarkistaa (“to check, verify”). It breaks down as:

Stem: tarkista-
Personal ending for “I”: -n So tarkistan = “I check” or “I will check” (in present tense).

Why is sulkemisajan ending in -n? What case is this?

Sulkemisajan is the accusative singular form of sulkemisaika (“closing time”), and it looks identical to the genitive singular. In a transitive sentence where you complete the action (you fully check something), Finnish uses the accusative (which for many nouns matches the genitive). If you wanted to express an incomplete or general checking, you could use the partitive:

Accusative (complete): tarkistan sulkemisajan (“I check the closing time [completely]”)
Partitive (ongoing/indefinite): tarkistan sulkemisaikaa (“I’m checking some closing time / I’m in the process of checking closing times”)

What is the case of lähtöä in ennen lähtöä, and why is it used?

After the preposition ennen (“before”), Finnish requires the partitive singular for nouns. Lähtö (“departure”) in partitive singular becomes lähtöä. So ennen lähtöä literally means “before departure,” with lähtöä in the partitive because of ennen.

Could I rephrase ennen lähtöä as a clause with a verb, for example “before I leave”?

Yes. You can use ennen kuin + verb form:

Ennen kuin lähden, tarkistan sulkemisajan.
Here lähden = “I leave,” and ennen kuin functions like “before” in English subordinate clauses.

Can I move ennen lähtöä to the beginning of the sentence?

Absolutely. Finnish word order is fairly flexible. You can say:

Ennen lähtöä tarkistan sulkemisajan.
This puts time emphasis on “before leaving.”

What’s the difference between ennen lähtöä and ennen lähtemistä?

Both are correct but have slightly different nuances:

Lähtö is the noun “departure,” so ennen lähtöä = “before the departure.”
Lähteminen is a gerund-like noun “the act of leaving,” so ennen lähtemistä = “before leaving (the act).”
In everyday Finnish ennen lähtöä is more common and sounds more natural.

Could I specify that it’s my departure? How would I say “before my departure”?

Yes. You add the possessive suffix -ni (“my”) to the noun before putting it in partitive:

ennen lähtöäni = “before my departure.”

If I wanted to check store closing time specifically, how would I say that?

You simply add the store noun in front of sulkemisaika:

Tarkistan kaupan sulkemisajan ennen lähtöä.
Here kauppa (“shop”) in genitive is kaupan, so kaupan sulkemisaika = “the shop’s closing time.”