Learn Hardcore Finnish: Oppilas lukee kirjaa lampun valossa. - The pupil reads a book in the light of the lamp.

Finnish does not use definite or indefinite articles. A noun on its own can mean “a/an” or “the” depending on context. So oppilas can be “a student” or “the student” without any extra word.

What person and number is lukee, and how is it formed?

Lukee is the third-person singular present tense of lukea (“to read”). In Finnish conjugation group 1, you take the verb stem (luke-) and add –e plus the personal ending –e → luke + e + e = lukee (“he/she/it reads”).

Why is kirjaa in the partitive case instead of the nominative kirja?

Many Finnish verbs require their object in the partitive when the action is ongoing, incomplete, or indefinite.

Reading a book is an activity that isn’t “completed” in the moment, so you use the partitive: lukee kirjaa (“is reading a book”).
If you wanted to express a completed, bounded action (e.g. “read the whole book”), you’d switch to the accusative/nominative: lukee kirjan or in past tense luki kirjan.

What exactly is the partitive case, and how do I recognize it?

The partitive case can mark:
• ongoing or partial actions (“I’m baking bread” = leivon leipää),
• indefinite quantities (“some water” = vettä),
• or absence (“I don’t have money” = minulla ei ole rahaa).
For a type 1 noun like kirja, you form the singular partitive by lengthening the vowel and adding –a → kirja → kirjaa.

What does lampun valossa literally mean and what cases are involved?

It’s a combination of two cases:

lampun = genitive singular of lamppu (“lamp”), showing possession.
valossa = inessive singular of valo (“light”), meaning “in the light.”
Together lampun valossa literally means “in the lamp’s light,” i.e. “by the light of the lamp.”

Why don’t we use a preposition like in or by?

Finnish prefers expressing spatial and instrumental relations with noun cases rather than prepositions. Here the inessive case (–ssa/ssä) covers English “in,” “at,” or “by” depending on context.

Could I replace kirjaa with the accusative kirjan?

Only if you want to imply a complete, bounded event. For example, “The student read the entire book” would be Oppilas luki kirjan. In the present tense, however, lukee kirjan sounds like “(He) reads the whole book” as a habitual or precise fact, not an ongoing reading.

Is the word order fixed? Could I start with lampun valossa?

Finnish has fairly free word order for emphasis.
• Lampun valossa oppilas lukee kirjaa.
moves the setting to the front (“In the lamp’s light, the student is reading a book”).
All you need to keep is the case endings; the grammar won’t break if you reshuffle.