Tilaan pitsan meille.

I will order a pizza for us.

Breakdown of Tilaan pitsan meille.

• minä: I
• tilata: to order
• pitsa: the pizza
• meille: us

Questions & Answers about Tilaan pitsan meille.

Why is there no minä (“I”) in the sentence?

Finnish usually leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Tilaan is 1st person singular (“I order / I will order”), so minä would be redundant.
• You can say Minä tilaan pitsan meille, but then minä adds emphasis, like “I will order us a pizza (not someone else).”

So Tilaan pitsan meille is the normal, neutral way to say it.

What exactly does the verb tilaan mean, and what tense is it?

Tilaan is the 1st person singular present tense of tilata (“to order”).

• Infinitive: tilata – “to order”
• minä tilaan – I order / I will order
• sinä tilaat – you order
• hän tilaa – he/she orders
• me tilaamme – we order

Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense tilaan can mean:

• “I order a pizza for us” (habitual or general)
• “I’m (going to) order a pizza for us” (future intention, context-dependent)

Context or an adverb like huomenna (“tomorrow”) shows if it’s about the future.

Why is it pitsan and not just pitsa?

Pitsan is pitsa in the genitive/accusative singular (ending -n).

In this sentence, pitsan is the object of a completed action: you intend to order one whole pizza. Finnish marks such a “total object” with this -n form.

• Tilaan pitsan. – I’ll order a (whole) pizza.
• Syön omenan. – I’ll eat the (whole) apple.

So the -n here shows that the pizza is a complete, bounded thing in this action (one full pizza, not just some pizza in general).

What’s the difference between Tilaan pitsan meille and Tilaan pitsaa meille?

The difference is in the object case, which changes the meaning:

• Tilaan pitsan meille.
  – Object: pitsan (total object, genitive/accusative)
  – Meaning: “I’ll order a (whole) pizza for us.” (a specific, complete pizza)

• Tilaan pitsaa meille.
  – Object: pitsaa (partitive)
  – Meaning: “I’ll order some pizza for us.” (an unspecified amount; maybe slices, maybe more than one pizza, not focusing on a single whole)

So:

• pitsan = one whole, countable pizza (total)
• pitsaa = some amount of pizza (partial/unspecified)

What does meille literally mean, and why not meidän or meitä?

Meille is the allative form of me (“we”).

• me – we (basic form)
• meidän – our (genitive, possessor)
• meitä – us (partitive, used in some object/quantity contexts)
• meille – to us / for us (allative, direction or beneficiary)

In Tilaan pitsan meille:

• meille = “for us” or “to us” (beneficiary/recipient)

So meille is correct because you’re doing something for “us”.
Meidän would mean “our”, as in meidän pitsamme (“our pizza”), which is a different structure.

What is the most literal word‑for‑word breakdown of Tilaan pitsan meille?

You can gloss it like this:

• Tilaan – “(I) order / will order”
  
  • tila- (verb stem) + -an (1st person singular ending)
• pitsan – “(the/a) pizza” as a total object (genitive/accusative singular)
• meille – “to us / for us” (allative case)

So very literally:
“I-order pizza-(whole) for-us.”

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Tilaan meille pitsan or Meille tilaan pitsan?

Yes, Finnish allows flexible word order, and all of these are grammatically correct:

• Tilaan pitsan meille. – Neutral, standard order.
• Tilaan meille pitsan. – Slight emphasis on meille (“for us”), as in: “I’ll order for us a pizza.”
• Meille tilaan pitsan. – Stronger emphasis on meille; something like “For us, I’ll order a pizza (as opposed to for someone else).”
• Pitsan tilaan meille. – Emphasis on pitsan (“a pizza is what I’ll order for us”).

Finnish uses word order mainly to shift focus/emphasis, not to mark basic grammatical roles (those are shown mostly by endings).

How would I say “I ordered us a pizza” in the past tense?

Use the past tense (imperfect) of tilata:

• Tilasin pitsan meille. – “I ordered us a pizza.”

Breakdown:

• tilasin – I ordered (past: minä tilasin)
• pitsan – the/a pizza (total object)
• meille – for us / to us

So you just change tilaan → tilasin; the rest stays the same.

What’s the difference between pitsa and pizza in Finnish?

Both forms exist, but pitsa is the nativized form and is generally preferred in standard Finnish.

• pitsa – recommended modern Finnish spelling; common in everyday speech and many texts.
• pizza – the original Italian/English spelling; still seen on menus, brand names, etc.

In grammar, both behave the same way:

• pitsa → pitsan (genitive/accusative)
• pizza → pizzan (genitive/accusative)

So you could also say Tilaan pizzan meille, but Tilaan pitsan meille sounds more natural in everyday Finnish.

If the pizza is for several people, why is pitsa still singular?

The grammar follows the thing you’re ordering, not how many people will eat it.

• Tilaan pitsan meille. – I’ll order one pizza for us (we’ll share it).
• Tilaan kolme pitsaa meille. – I’ll order three pizzas for us.

So singular pitsan is correct even if it’s for a group. The plural only appears if you actually order multiple pizzas.

How would I say “I’ll order two pizzas for us,” and why does the form of pitsa change?

You’d say:

• Tilaan meille kaksi pitsaa. – “I’ll order two pizzas for us.”

Notice:

• kaksi (“two”) requires the noun in the partitive singular, so:
  • pitsa → pitsaa (partitive singular)
• This is a regular Finnish rule: after numbers 2 and above, the noun takes the partitive singular.

So:

• 1 pizza: Tilaan pitsan.
• 2 pizzas: Tilaan kaksi pitsaa.
• 3 pizzas: Tilaan kolme pitsaa.

The combination numeral + partitive singular expresses “X units of Y” in Finnish.