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Questions & Answers about Minä teen sen itse.
Do I need to say Minä, or is Teen sen itse enough?
You can drop Minä. The verb ending in teen already shows “I.”
- Teen sen itse. = neutral “I’ll do it myself.”
- Adding Minä gives emphasis: Minä teen sen itse = “I (as opposed to someone else) will do it myself.”
What tense is teen? Does it mean “I do” or “I will do”?
Finnish present covers both present and near future. Context or a time word clarifies it:
- Teen sen nyt. = I’m doing it now.
- Teen sen huomenna. = I’ll do it tomorrow.
If you want to stress intention, use aikoa: Aion tehdä sen itse.
Why is it sen and not se or sitä?
- sen is the (genitive‑)accusative “total object” form of se in an affirmative clause: completed, bounded action.
- se (nominative) isn’t used as the normal object form here (though it appears e.g. in imperatives: Ota se!).
- sitä is partitive; see next question for when to use it.
When would I use sitä instead of sen?
Use partitive sitä for:
- Negation: En tee sitä.
- Ongoing/process/“some of it”: Teen sitä juuri nyt.
- Habitual/indefinite activity: Teen sitä usein.
- Unbounded quantity: with mass/uncountables.
Compare: Teen sen illalla (I will get it done) vs. Teen sitä illalla (I’ll be working on it in the evening).
What does itse mean here—“myself” or “alone”?
Here itse is an emphasis marker: “I myself (not someone else).” It does not necessarily mean “alone.”
- “Alone” is yksin: Teen sen yksin. = I’ll do it alone.
So Teen sen itse can include help; Teen sen yksin excludes help.
Should I use itsekseni/itsekseen to mean “by myself”?
Generally no for this meaning. Itsekseen/itsekseni means “to/with oneself” in the sense of acting without interacting with others (often for verbs like speak, mutter, walk): Hän puhuu itsekseen. For “do it alone,” use yksin: Teen sen yksin.
Where can itse go, and does position change the emphasis?
Yes, word order fine‑tunes focus. All are grammatical:
- Minä teen sen itse. Neutral “I myself will do it.”
- Minä itse teen sen. Strongly emphasizes the subject “I myself.”
- Itse teen sen. Very strong “I myself (and not others) will do it.”
- Sen teen itse. Focus on the object “That one I’ll do myself (others maybe not).”
- Teen itse sen. Also possible; puts extra weight on “myself.”
Rule of thumb: itse usually refers to the subject unless it clearly attaches to some noun/pronoun right before it (e.g., presidentti itse, “the president himself”).
Could itse refer to the object here?
Not in Minä teen sen itse; by default it refers to the subject. To point at the object you can bring it next to itse and front it: Sen itse teen (“That one itself is the one I’ll do”), or say itse asia (“the thing itself”) if that’s what you mean.
How does negation change the sentence?
Negation uses the partitive object and a negative auxiliary:
- En tee sitä itse. = I won’t/don’t do it myself.
Conjugation: en tee, et tee, ei tee, emme tee, ette tee, eivät tee.
How would this sound in casual spoken Finnish?
Very common:
- Mä teen sen itse.
Colloquial variants of itse exist: ite/itte (regional/colloquial): Mä teen sen ite. In negatives: Mä en tee sitä ite.
Is tehdä irregular? How does teen fit in?
Yes. Key forms:
- Present: teen, teet, tekee, teemme, teette, tekevät
- Past: tein, teit, teki, teimme, teitte, tekivät
- Perfect: olen tehnyt
- Passive present: tehdään
- Imperative: tee!
Can I omit the object and just say Teen itse?
Yes, if the object is obvious from context. Teen itse = “I’ll do it myself” (where “it” is understood).
How do I add “too/even,” like “I’ll do it myself too”?
Use the clitic -kin on the word you want to emphasize:
- Minäkin teen sen itse. = I, too, will do it myself.
- Minä teen sen itsekin. = I will do it myself, too (in addition to some other way/time).
- Itsekin teen sen. = I myself will do it too (focus on “myself”).
How do I say “this one/that one I’ll do myself”?
Use demonstratives:
- Teen tämän itse. = I’ll do this (near me) myself.
- Teen tuon itse. = I’ll do that (near you/visible) myself.
- Teen sen itse. = I’ll do it (previously known/that one) myself.
What happens with noun objects—why työn but aamupalaa?
Total vs. partitive object:
- Bounded/completed: genitive (or nominative for some contexts): Teen työn itse. = I’ll do the job (to completion) myself.
- Unbounded/quantity/activity: partitive: Teen aamupalaa itse. = I’m making (some) breakfast myself.
What’s the difference between itse and forms like itseni/itsesi/itsensä?
- itse is an intensifier: Minä itse teen sen. = I myself will do it.
- Possessive‑suffixed forms are true reflexives used as objects or in cases:
- Näin itseni peilistä. = I saw myself in the mirror.
- Pidän tästä itsekseni. = I’ll keep this to myself.
They’re different functions: emphasis vs. reflexive reference.