Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta. - I want to review the task before the exam.

Haluan on its own already means “I want” (first person singular ending -n).
Minä haluan adds emphasis to I – for example, contrasting with someone else:
Minä haluan kerrata, mutta sinä et halua. – I want to revise, but you don’t.

In everyday speech and writing, Haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta is slightly more natural and neutral than the version with Minä. Both are grammatically correct.

Why is kerrata not conjugated (why not kertaan or kerrataan) after haluan?

Finnish uses the basic infinitive (the dictionary form) after verbs like haluta (to want), aikoa (to intend), voida (can), etc.

haluan kerrata = I want to revise
- haluan – conjugated (shows person & tense)
- kerrata – infinitive (no person or tense)

You do not say:

haluan kerrataan ❌
haluan kertaan ❌

Only the first verb in this kind of verb chain is conjugated; the following verb stays in the infinitive: haluan + kerrata.

What exactly does kerrata mean? Is it “repeat”, “revise”, or something else?

Kerrata means to go through something again, usually in order to learn it better or remind yourself of it. Depending on context, good English equivalents are:

to revise / review (for an exam)
to go over again
sometimes to recap

It is not the same as kertoa (to tell) and not usually the technical “repeat a sound” that toistaa can mean.

In this sentence, kerrata tehtävän is best translated as “to revise / go over the exercise”.

Why is tehtävä in the form tehtävän here?

Tehtävä is the basic (nominative) form meaning task / exercise / assignment.
In kerrata tehtävän, the word is the object of the verb kerrata, and here it appears as a total object, which in the singular is usually marked with -n (genitive form):

nominative: tehtävä – a task / the task (subject form)
genitive/total object: tehtävän – the (whole) task as an object

We use the total object when the action is seen as complete and affecting the whole thing:

Haluan kerrata tehtävän. – I want to revise the whole exercise (get it done).

So tehtävän is the appropriate form of the object when you want to revise the exercise as a complete item.

Could we say Haluan kerrata tehtävää instead of tehtävän? What would change?

Yes, Haluan kerrata tehtävää is possible, but the nuance changes.

Haluan kerrata tehtävän.
- total object (genitive-type)
- focus on the exercise as a whole; the goal is to cover all of it.
Haluan kerrata tehtävää.
- partitive object
- suggests an ongoing / partial / indefinite action:
  - you’re going through some of the exercise,
  - or you’re in the process of revising it, not focusing on the endpoint.

In many exam-related contexts, the total object tehtävän feels more natural because you want to finish revising that whole exercise before the exam.

Why is it ennen koetta and not ennen koe or ennen kokeen?

The word ennen (before) is a postposition that normally requires its complement to be in the partitive case.

nominative: koe – test, exam
genitive: kokeen
partitive: koetta

After ennen, you use koetta:

ennen koetta – before the exam

Saying ennen koe or ennen kokeen is ungrammatical in standard Finnish.
The pattern to remember is:

ennen + PARTITIVE
ennen koetta, ennen lomaa, ennen tuntia
(before the exam, before the holiday, before the lesson)

What are the main forms of koe and how are they used?

For the singular:

koe – nominative
- Koe on huomenna. – The exam is tomorrow.
kokeen – genitive
- Pelkään kokeen vaikeutta. – I fear the difficulty of the exam.
koetta – partitive
- Ennen koetta – before the exam
- En pelkää koetta. – I am not afraid of the exam.

In your sentence, koetta is required by ennen.

Is ennen koetta like an English prepositional phrase? How is ennen used in Finnish?

Yes, functionally ennen koetta works like the English prepositional phrase before the exam, but in Finnish ennen is typically classified as a postposition.

Key points:

It comes before its complement in surface order (like a preposition), but historically and grammatically it behaves like a postposition.
It takes its complement in the partitive:
- ennen koetta – before the exam
- ennen kesää – before the summer
- ennen aamiaista – before breakfast

Structurally, the whole phrase ennen koetta is an adverbial of time in the sentence.

Are both tehtävän and koetta objects in this sentence?

No. Only tehtävän is the direct object of the verb.

tehtävän – object of kerrata
- kerrata tehtävän – to revise the exercise
koetta – complement of the postposition ennen
- ennen koetta – before the exam (adverbial of time)

So the verb kerrata acts directly on tehtävän, while ennen koetta simply tells when the action happens.

How flexible is the word order in this sentence? Can I move parts around?

Finnish word order is relatively flexible, though not completely free. All of these are grammatically correct, with slightly different emphases:

Haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta. – neutral (subject omitted).
Minä haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta. – neutral, but emphasis on I.
Ennen koetta haluan kerrata tehtävän. – frames the sentence with before the exam.
Tehtävän haluan kerrata ennen koetta. – emphasis on the exercise in contrast to something else.

The safest neutral pattern is:

(Subject) + Verb + Object + Other elements
(Minä) haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta.

What does tehtävä mean here exactly – task, exercise, assignment?

Tehtävä is a noun meaning something that is meant to be done. Common English equivalents:

exercise (in a workbook, exam paper, homework)
task
assignment

In the sentence Haluan kerrata tehtävän ennen koetta, in a study context, tehtävä is best understood as an exercise (on a sheet, in a book, or in the exam) that you want to go over again before the exam.