Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen. - I feel that I am now more confident than yesterday.

Minusta is the elative case (“from me”) of minä.
With the verb tuntua (to feel / to seem), Finnish usually puts the person who experiences the feeling in the elative case:

Minusta tuntuu – It feels (to me) / I feel
Sinusta tuntuu – It feels (to you)
Hänestä tuntuu – It feels (to him/her)

So minusta here doesn’t mean from me in a physical sense, but “as experienced by me.”
You cannot say *minä tuntuu; that’s ungrammatical. The pattern is [elative] + tuntuu.

What does “Minusta tuntuu” literally mean, and how should I think of it in English?

Literally, Minusta tuntuu is something like:

“From me it feels” or “It feels from my point of view.”

But idiomatically, you should think of it as:

“I feel (that)…”
or “It seems to me (that)…”

So:

Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.
≈ I feel (that) I am more confident now than yesterday.
≈ It seems to me that I’m more confident now than yesterday.

The structure is closer to English “It seems to me” than “I feel”, because tuntuu is in the 3rd person singular (like “it seems”), and minusta marks “to me”.

Is tuntuu agreeing with minusta? Why is it 3rd person singular?

Tuntuu is 3rd person singular present of tuntua. It does not agree with minusta, because minusta is not the subject.

The pattern is:

(se) tuntuu – it feels / it seems
minusta – to me / from my perspective

So the underlying idea is:

(Se) tuntuu minusta – It feels (to me).

In the sentence:

Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.

the subject is an implicit “it” (the situation, my state, etc.), and minusta is the experiencer. Grammar-wise, it’s like English:

It seems to me that I am more confident now than yesterday.

Why is there a comma before “että” and what does “että” do here?

Että is a subordinating conjunction meaning “that” in English.

Minusta tuntuu, että…
– It seems to me that… / I feel that…

In standard written Finnish, you normally put a comma before että when it introduces a subordinate clause.

English often omits “that”:

I feel (that) I am more confident now than yesterday.

But in standard Finnish you should keep “että” here; you can’t just drop it:

✔ Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.
✘ Minusta tuntuu, olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen. (incorrect in standard language)

Could I say “että minä olen nyt varmempi” instead of “että olen nyt varmempi”?

Yes, you can:

Minusta tuntuu, että minä olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.

This is grammatically correct. The difference is mostly in emphasis:

että olen nyt varmempi – neutral; the subject “I” is understood from the verb form olen.
että minä olen nyt varmempi – emphasizes “I”, like: that I am (as opposed to someone else) or adds a bit of contrast.

In everyday speech and neutral writing, dropping the explicit minä is more common and natural here.

How is varmempi formed, and why not say something like “enemmän varma”?

Varmempi is the comparative form of the adjective varma (sure, certain, confident).

Formation pattern:

varma → stem changes to varmem- → varmempi (more sure / more confident)

This is a regular type of comparative formation where -ma can change to -mem- before -mpi.

In Finnish, for most one-word adjectives, you don’t make comparisons with enemmän (more) the way you do with English “more X”:

✔ varmempi – more confident
✘ enemmän varma – would sound odd or wrong in this context

Use -mpi on the adjective itself: nopea → nopeampi, pitkä → pidempi, tärkeä → tärkeämpi, etc.

What exactly does “kuin” mean in this sentence?

Here, kuin is a comparison word meaning “than”.

varmempi kuin eilen
– more confident than yesterday

It links the comparative varmempi to what you are comparing against (eilen = yesterday).

Basic pattern:

[comparative adjective] + kuin + [thing/time being compared to]

Examples:

pitempi kuin sinä – taller than you
parempi kuin ennen – better than before

Why is it “kuin eilen” and not “kuin eilen olin” or “kuin olin eilen”?

Finnish often omits repeated elements when the meaning is clear.

Full, explicit version would be:

Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin olin eilen.
– I feel that I am more confident now than I was yesterday.

But because “I was” is clear from context, Finnish can drop it and just say:

…varmempi kuin eilen.

English usually needs the verb “was”, but Finnish is happy with just “than yesterday” after a comparative when the verb and subject would simply repeat what’s already said.

Can the word order be different, like “että olen varmempi nyt kuin eilen” or “että nyt olen varmempi kuin eilen”?

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible. All of these are grammatical:

että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen (original)
että olen varmempi nyt kuin eilen
että nyt olen varmempi kuin eilen

The differences are mostly about rhythm and emphasis, not grammar:

Putting nyt early (että nyt olen…) can emphasize the “now”.
että olen nyt varmempi… and että olen varmempi nyt… are both very natural; the first is probably the most typical.

So you don’t have to worry much here; the original word order is standard and natural.

What’s the difference between “Minusta tuntuu, että olen…” and “Minusta tuntuu olevani…”?

Both are correct and very close in meaning.

Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.
– literally It feels to me that I am now more confident than yesterday.
Minusta tuntuu olevani nyt varmempi kuin eilen.
– literally It feels to me that I am being / that I am now more confident than yesterday.

In (2), olevani is a VA-participle form of olla that incorporates the subject “I” (the -ni ending). It’s more compact and a bit more formal/written in tone.

In everyday speech, (1) with että olen is more common and feels more conversational.

How does “Minusta tuntuu” compare to “Tunnen, että…” or “Minun mielestäni…”?

They’re related but not identical:

Minusta tuntuu, että…
- I feel that… / It seems to me that…
- Often expresses a subjective impression, intuition, or emotional sense.
- Very common and natural.
Tunnen, että…
- Literally I feel/sense that…
- Tunnen (from tuntea) is more about physical sensations or strong emotions, or “I sense that…”
- In opinion-like sentences, Minusta tuntuu, että… is more idiomatic than Tunnen, että….
Minun mielestäni olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.
- In my opinion, I am more confident now than yesterday.
- Minun mielestäni = “in my opinion.”
- This sounds like a more conscious, considered opinion, whereas Minusta tuntuu is more about how it feels internally.

So in this sentence, Minusta tuntuu, että… is the most natural way to express a personal, feeling-based judgment.

Is there a more colloquial/spoken version of this sentence?

Yes, in spoken Finnish people often shorten and relax forms. A typical colloquial version could be:

Must tuntuu, et oon nyt varmempi ku eilen.

Changes you see:

Minusta → must (spoken reduction)
että → et
olen → oon
kuin → ku

This is very common in casual speech, but in writing (especially anything formal or semi-formal) you should stick to the standard form:

Minusta tuntuu, että olen nyt varmempi kuin eilen.