Jokin asia häiritsee minua.

Something is bothering me.

Breakdown of Jokin asia häiritsee minua.

• asia: the thing
• minua: me
• jokin: some
• häiritä: to bother

Questions & Answers about Jokin asia häiritsee minua.

What does jokin mean, and how is it different from joku?

Both jokin and joku mean roughly “some / a certain / some kind of”.

• joku is the more general, very common word.
• jokin is a bit more bookish and is used especially with things, not people.

In this sentence, jokin asia = “some thing / something” (literally: some matter/thing).

In everyday spoken Finnish, you would much more often hear joku asia häiritsee minua than jokin asia häiritsee minua.

Why do we say jokin asia? Isn’t that redundant, like saying “some thing thing”?

It is slightly redundant if you literally translate it, but it’s normal in Finnish.

• jokin means “some / certain”
• asia means “thing, matter, issue”

So jokin asia = “some thing / some matter”.

You could grammatically say just jokin häiritsee minua (“something bothers me”), but:

• jokin asia sounds more natural and idiomatic in many contexts.
• Adding asia can make it sound more like a vague issue or matter, not a specific physical object.

Spoken language often simplifies this even further to joku juttu häiritsee minua, where juttu is a very colloquial word for “thing / matter”.

Why is the verb häiritsee in that form? How is häiritä conjugated here?

The dictionary form is häiritä (“to disturb, bother”).
In the sentence jokin asia häiritsee minua, the subject is jokin asia (3rd person singular), so the verb is:

• hän / se häiritsee = “he/she/it bothers/disturbs”

Present tense of häiritä looks like this:

• (minä) häiritsen – I disturb / I bother
• (sinä) häiritset – you disturb
• (hän) häiritsee – he/she/it disturbs
• (me) häiritsemme – we disturb
• (te) häiritsette – you (pl) disturb
• (he) häiritsevät – they disturb

So jokin asia häiritsee minua = “some thing disturbs me / bothers me”.

Why is it minua and not minut or minä?

Minua is the partitive case of minä (“I”).
Häiritä is a verb that normally takes its object in the partitive case.

• minä = I (nominative, subject form)
• minun = my (genitive)
• minut = me (total object, but not used with häiritä)
• minua = me (partitive object or “of me / about me”)

Here:

• jokin asia = subject (nominative)
• minua = object (partitive)

So structurally it’s: “Some thing disturbs me” → jokin asia häiritsee minua, not minut.

Does häiritä always take the object in the partitive case?

In practice, yes – häiritä is treated as a partitive verb in modern Finnish.

You say:

• Häiritsetkö sinä minua? – Are you disturbing me?
• Naapurit häiritsevät meitä. – The neighbours disturb us.
• Ääni häiritsee häntä. – The noise disturbs him/her.

The person or thing being disturbed is almost always in the partitive:

• minua, sinua, häntä, meitä, teitä, heitä
• opettajaa, lasta, koiraa, etc.

Using minut here (jokin asia häiritsee minut) would sound wrong to native speakers.

What is the difference between jokin asia häiritsee minua and minua häiritsee jokin asia?

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing, but the emphasis is different because of word order.

• Jokin asia häiritsee minua.
  – Neutral statement. The “some thing” (subject) comes first; you’re just reporting that something is bothering you.

• Minua häiritsee jokin asia.
  – Emphasis on minua (“me”). It’ s a bit like saying “It’s me that something is bothering” / “Something is bothering me”.

Finnish word order is flexible, and changing the order often changes what is emotionally or informationally highlighted, not the core meaning.

Could you drop asia and just say jokin häiritsee minua?

Yes, you can say jokin häiritsee minua, and it’s grammatically fine.

The nuance:

• jokin häiritsee minua – very vague “something bothers me”; you’re not specifying what kind of thing.
• jokin asia häiritsee minua – still vague, but feels more like there is some issue / matter / concern that is bothering you.

In many contexts both would be understood the same way; jokin asia just sounds a bit fuller and more natural in everyday use.

How would I say “Something bothers you / him / us / them” using this pattern?

You keep jokin asia and change only the object pronoun:

• Jokin asia häiritsee sinua. – Something bothers you.
• Jokin asia häiritsee häntä. – Something bothers him/her.
• Jokin asia häiritsee meitä. – Something bothers us.
• Jokin asia häiritsee teitä. – Something bothers you (plural/polite).
• Jokin asia häiritsee heitä. – Something bothers them.

Notice that all of these pronouns are in the partitive: sinua, häntä, meitä, teitä, heitä.

How would I say this in the negative: “Something does not bother me”?

You use the negative verb ei and the basic verb form häiritä, and leave the object minua in partitive:

• Jokin asia ei häiritse minua. – Something does not bother me.

Structure:

• jokin asia – subject (nominative)
• ei – negative verb (3rd singular)
• häiritse – main verb (negative form; no personal ending)
• minua – object (partitive)

The verb changes from häiritsee → ei häiritse in the negative.

Is jokin asia häiritsee minua about physical disturbance (like noise) or emotional/mental disturbance?

Häiritä covers both physical and mental/emotional disturbance. Context decides.

Examples:

• Naapurin meteli häiritsee minua. – The neighbour’s noise disturbs me (physical).
• Tuo kommentti häiritsee minua. – That comment bothers me (mentally/emotionally).
• Jokin asia häiritsee minua, en tiedä mikä. – Something is bothering me, I don’t know what (usually mental/emotional or a vague worry).

So the sentence can mean either, depending on the situation.

How would this sentence look in casual spoken Finnish?

In everyday speech, several things often change:

• jokin → joku
• minua → mua
• Word choices might become more colloquial.

Very typical spoken versions:

• Joku asia häiritsee mua.
• Jotain häiritsee mua. (with jotain = “something”, very common colloquially)

The standard written form you started with is Jokin asia häiritsee minua.

Can I replace asia with other nouns to be more specific?

Yes, jokin can modify almost any noun. For example:

• Jokin ääni häiritsee minua. – Some sound is bothering me.
• Jokin haju häiritsee minua. – Some smell is bothering me.
• Jokin kysymys häiritsee minua. – Some question is bothering me.
• Jokin virhe häiritsee minua. – Some mistake is bothering me.

The pattern is the same:

Jokin + [noun in nominative] + häiritsee + [object in partitive].