Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä peitän pöydän liinalla.

Minä = I (subject, nominative; often omitted in Finnish)
peitän = I cover (verb, present indicative, 1st person singular of peittää)
pöydän = the table (object in the total/accusative sense; form looks like genitive singular)
liinalla = with a cloth (adessive case, expressing instrument/means)

Why is it pöydän and not pöytää?

pöydän is the total object (accusative meaning) and suggests a bounded/complete event: the table gets covered (as a whole, or the action is viewed as complete).
pöytää is the partitive object and would suggest an unbounded/ongoing or partial action.
- Example: Juuri nyt peitän pöytää liinalla. = I’m (in the middle of) covering the table with a cloth.

So what case is pöydän exactly?

It functions as the accusative (total object), but for nouns the accusative singular is typically identical in form to the genitive singular (-n). That’s why you see -n on pöydän even though it’s an object, not a possessor here.

Why is it liinalla and not something like liinaa?

Finnish typically expresses “with/by means of X” using the adessive case (-lla/-llä). So liinalla = with a cloth, as an instrument.
liinaa is the partitive of liina and would not express instrument; it would more likely be interpreted as an object or an indefinite amount of cloth.

Why -lla and not -llä on liinalla?

Vowel harmony. liina has the back vowel a (i and e are neutral), so the back-vowel adessive ending -lla is used. With front vowels you’d see -llä (e.g., kädellä “with a hand”).

What exactly is the verb form peitän?

Tense/mood/person: present indicative, 1st person singular (“I cover/I am covering”).
From the infinitive peittää “to cover” (verb type 1).
Consonant gradation applies: tt → t in this form: peittä- → peitän.
Negative present: en peitä. Past: peitin.

Why does pöytä become pöydän (with d)?

Consonant gradation. In many words, t becomes d in the “weak” grade when inflected.

pöytä (strong grade) → pöydän (weak grade, genitive/accusative form).
Other examples: katu → kadun, äiti → äidin.

Can I drop Minä?

Yes. Finnish verb endings show the person, so the pronoun is usually omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Neutral: Peitän pöydän liinalla.
Emphatic: Minä peitän pöydän liinalla (I, not someone else).

How flexible is the word order?

Fairly flexible, but the neutral order is as given (Subject–Verb–Object–Instrument). You can front elements to emphasize them:

Liinalla peitän pöydän. (It’s with a cloth that I’m covering the table.)
Pöydän peitän liinalla. (It’s the table I’ll cover with a cloth.) All are grammatical; word order mainly signals information structure.

Could I say liinan kanssa instead of liinalla?

Generally no. kanssa means “together with” (companionship/association), not “using as a tool.”
Use the adessive -lla/-llä for instruments:

kirjoitan kynällä (I write with a pen),
leikkaan saksilla (I cut with scissors),
peitän pöydän liinalla (I cover the table with a cloth).

Is peittää the best verb if I mean “lay/set the table”?

If you mean covering the table (e.g., putting a cloth over it), peittää is fine. If you mean “set/lay the table (for a meal),” the usual verb is kattaa:

Katson pöydän is wrong;
Kattaa pöydän = to set/lay the table.
You can also say: Kattaan pöydän pöytäliinalla (I set the table with a tablecloth).

How do I say it in the past (or refer to the future)?

Past: Peitin pöydän liinalla. (I covered the table with a cloth.)
Finnish has no dedicated future tense; use the present with a time adverbial:
- Huomenna peitän pöydän liinalla. (Tomorrow I’ll cover the table with a cloth.)

What happens in the negative?

Negative present: En peitä pöytää liinalla.
Note the object switches to the partitive (pöytää) under negation. This is a general rule: total objects typically become partitive in negative clauses.

How do I make a question from this?

Yes–no: Peitänkö pöydän liinalla? (Am I covering the table with a cloth?)
Wh-question (instrument): Millä peität pöydän? (With what do you cover the table?)
Wh-question (object): Minkä peität liinalla? (What are you covering with a cloth?)

How do I say “with a tablecloth” specifically?

Use the compound pöytäliina (“tablecloth”) in the adessive:

pöytäliinalla = with a tablecloth.
Example: Peitän pöydän pöytäliinalla.

Does Finnish show “a/the” here? How do I say “with the cloth”?

Finnish has no articles, so liinalla can be “with a cloth” or “with the cloth,” depending on context. To be explicit, use a demonstrative:

tällä liinalla (with this cloth), sillä liinalla (with that cloth).

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

öy in pöydän is a front rounded diphthong; round your lips for ö and glide to y.
ä is a front “a” (as in “cat,” but longer/tenser).
ii in liina is a long vowel; hold it.
Double consonants matter: ll in liinalla is long; hold the consonant slightly longer.
Stress is on the first syllable of each word.

How would I say it with multiple cloths?

Use the plural adessive: liinoilla.

Peitän pöydän liinoilla. = I cover the table with cloths.