Learn Hardcore Finnish: Vältätkö sinä koskaan kahvia iltaisin? - Do you ever avoid coffee in the evenings?

-ko/‑kö is the yes/no question particle. In neutral questions it attaches to the finite verb, so vältät
- kö = Vältätkö.
You can attach it to other words to focus them:
- Sinäkö vältät…? = Is it you who avoid…?
- Kahviako vältät…? = Is it coffee that you avoid…?
It obeys vowel harmony: words with front vowels (ä, ö, y) take -kö; with back vowels (a, o, u) take -ko. Here, vältät has ä, so -kö is correct.

Do I need the pronoun sinä here?

No. The personal ending in Vältätkö already shows 2nd person singular.
Adding sinä adds emphasis or contrast: “Do you (as opposed to someone else) ever avoid…?”
A very natural version is simply: Vältätkö koskaan kahvia iltaisin?

What does koskaan mean in this question?

In questions, koskaan means ever: “Do you ever…?”
With negation, koskaan means never: En koskaan juo kahvia iltaisin = I never drink coffee in the evenings.
Colloquial near-synonym: ikinä (stronger/emphatic).

Why is kahvia in the partitive case?

kahvia (partitive singular) is used for an indefinite or unbounded amount (coffee as a substance), especially in generic or habitual statements.
With verbs like välttää, the partitive is natural for general avoidance: Vältän kahvia = I (generally) avoid coffee.
A total object (kahvin) would point to a specific, bounded item: Vältän kahvin ≈ I avoid the (specific) coffee / I’ll skip that cup.

Could I use kahvin instead of kahvia here?

Grammatically yes, but it changes the meaning. Vältätkö sinä koskaan kahvin iltaisin? suggests a specific, identifiable coffee (e.g., the coffee at a particular event), or a whole portion.
For the general idea of coffee in the evenings, kahvia is the idiomatic choice.

What about kahveja (partitive plural)?

kahveja means “coffees” (multiple cups/types). You’d use it if you mean several separate coffees: Vältätkö sinä koskaan kahveja iltaisin? = Do you ever avoid (multiple) coffees in the evenings? This is uncommon unless the plurality is relevant.

What’s the difference between iltaisin and illalla?

iltaisin = “in the evenings” (habitual, repeated time). It’s the frequentative time adverbial: habitual routine.
illalla = “in the evening” (a specific evening, e.g., tonight/that evening).
So your sentence asks about a general habit, which matches iltaisin.

Is the word order fixed? Where can I put koskaan, kahvia, and iltaisin?

Finnish word order is flexible; the default is fine: Vältätkö (sinä) koskaan kahvia iltaisin?
Acceptable variants (with slight changes in emphasis):
- Vältätkö (sinä) iltaisin koskaan kahvia?
- Iltaisin, vältätkö (sinä) koskaan kahvia? (fronted time frame)
- Kahviako vältät (sinä) iltaisin koskaan? (focus on coffee)
Keep koskaan near the verb; fronting it (Koskaan vältätkö…) is odd.

What is the conjugation behind Vältätkö?

Could I say “avoid doing” instead of “avoid coffee”? How?

Yes: use välttää
- the -mAsta form (3rd infinitive elative) of the verb.
Example: Vältätkö sinä koskaan juomasta kahvia iltaisin? = Do you ever avoid drinking coffee in the evenings?

What’s the difference between koskaan and joskus here?

koskaan in a question asks whether the action happens at all: “ever.”
joskus means “sometimes,” implying a nonzero frequency.
Compare:
- Vältätkö sinä koskaan kahvia iltaisin? = Do you ever avoid coffee in the evenings (at all)?
- Vältätkö sinä joskus kahvia iltaisin? = Do you sometimes avoid coffee in the evenings?

Do I have to use -kö in speech? Can intonation alone make the question?

Standard Finnish requires -ko/‑kö for yes/no questions, especially in writing.
In casual speech, people often drop it and rely on intonation: Sä vältät kahvia iltaisin? Both forms are common in conversation; keep -kö in formal or written Finnish.

How is the sentence pronounced and stressed?

Primary stress is on the first syllable of each word: VÄL-tät-kö SI-nä KOS-kaan KAH-vi-a IL-tai-sin.
Pronunciation tips:
- ä is an open front vowel (like the a in “cat,” but longer when doubled).
- Double consonants matter: tt is long; keep it distinct from single t.
- Each vowel is pronounced; there are no silent letters.

Is using koskaan without negation odd?

In statements, yes: koskaan usually needs negation. But in yes/no questions it’s natural and common to mean “ever.” So your sentence is idiomatic.

Why is it -kö and not -ko here?

Vowel harmony: -ko follows back vowels (a, o, u), -kö follows front vowels (ä, ö, y). The relevant non-neutral vowel in vältät is ä, so you use -kö. (Neutral vowels e, i adapt to the nearest non-neutral vowel in the word.)