Tänä iltana laitan ruokaa kotona.

This evening I will cook at home.

Breakdown of Tänä iltana laitan ruokaa kotona.

• minä: I
• tämä: this
• kotona: at home
• ilta: the evening
• laittaa ruokaa: to cook

Questions & Answers about Tänä iltana laitan ruokaa kotona.

Why does laitan mean “cook” here? Doesn’t laittaa usually mean “to put”?

• Laittaa literally means “to put/place/set/apply/turn on.” Its meaning depends on the object and context.
• With ruokaa, the idiom laittaa ruokaa means “to cook/prepare food.”
• So laitan ruokaa = “I cook / I’m cooking / I’m going to cook.”
• Other common uses: laittaa kirja pöydälle (put a book on the table), laittaa valot päälle (switch the lights on).

Why is ruokaa in the partitive case instead of ruoan?

• Ruokaa is the partitive singular of ruoka.
• The partitive is used for an indefinite amount or an ongoing, not-completed action: you’re “cooking (some) food.”
• Using the total object ruoan would imply a specific, delimited “the meal/the food” is being completed: laitan ruoan ≈ “I’ll prepare the (the) meal.”
• With the idiom laittaa ruokaa, the partitive is the default and most natural.

Can I say teen ruokaa or valmistan ruokaa or kokkaan instead?

• Yes:
  • teen ruokaa = “I make/cook food” (very common, neutral).
  • valmistan ruokaa = “I prepare food” (more formal).
  • kokkaan (from kokata) = colloquial “I cook.”
• All are fine; laittaa ruokaa and tehdä ruokaa are the most common in everyday speech.

What case is Tänä iltana, and why does it end with -na?

• Tänä iltana uses the essive case (-na/-nä) on both words: tämä → tänä, ilta → iltana.
• The essive is commonly used in time expressions with words like “this/last/next” to mean “on/this”: tänä aamuna, tänä iltana, ensi kesänä, viime yönä.
• It translates to “this evening” (i.e., “on this evening”).

What’s the difference between tänä iltana and illalla?

• tänä iltana = “this evening” (specific to today).
• illalla = “in the evening / this evening” depending on context; it’s more general and doesn’t explicitly say “this.”
• You cannot say tänä illalla; with tänä, you must use iltana (essive).

Is tänä yönä the same as “tonight”?

• English “tonight” often refers to the evening. In Finnish:
  • tänä iltana = “this evening” (the usual way to say what English calls “tonight” for evening plans).
  • tänä yönä = “this night” (late-night/overnight hours).
• Choose ilta vs yö based on when the action happens.

Why kotona here? What’s the difference between kotona, kotiin, and kotoa?

• These form a location-direction set:
  • kotona = “at home” (static location).
  • kotiin = “to home/homeward” (movement toward).
  • kotoa = “from home” (movement away).
• In the sentence, the action is located at home, so kotona fits.

Why does kotona end with -na and not -ssa like normal “in”-forms?

• Koti has special everyday forms: kotona (at home), kotoa (from home), kotiin (to home). They’re idiomatic and very common.
• The “regular” inessive would be kodissa (“in the home/house”), but for the idiomatic “at home,” Finnish uses kotona. Just memorize the trio kotona/kotoa/kotiin.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Laitan ruokaa kotona tänä iltana?

• Finnish word order is flexible; you front what you want to highlight.
  • Tänä iltana laitan ruokaa kotona (sets the time as the topic).
  • Laitan ruokaa kotona tänä iltana (neutral; statement-first).
  • Kotona laitan ruokaa tänä iltana (emphasizes location).
• All are grammatical; the leftmost element carries emphasis/topic.

Do I need to say minä?

• No. The verb ending in laitan already shows 1st person singular.
• Minä can be added for emphasis or contrast: Minä laitan ruokaa… = “I (as opposed to someone else) will cook…”

How can the present tense laitan refer to the future?

• Finnish has no separate future tense. The present covers present and near/planned future when a time expression clarifies it.
• Tänä iltana laitan… clearly means a future plan for this evening.
• If you want to stress intention, you can say aion laittaa ruokaa (“I intend to cook”).

How would I negate this sentence?

• Use the negative auxiliary plus the main verb stem: En laita ruokaa kotona tänä iltana = “I’m not cooking at home this evening.”
• Note the object stays partitive (ruokaa) under negation.

Why not plural or something like ruokia?

• Ruokia is partitive plural (“foods/dishes”). You’d use it only if you mean multiple kinds of food/dishes.
• For an unspecified amount of food, the correct form is singular partitive ruokaa.

How do I pronounce the tricky bits?

• Primary stress is always on the first syllable: TÄ-nä IL-ta-na LAI-tan RUO-kaa KO-to-na.
• ä = a front “a,” like the a in “cat” but longer/purer.
• Long vowels are written double: aa in ruokaa is held longer than a.
• Diphthongs: ai (like “eye”), uo (like English “uo” in “whoa” but one smooth glide).