Minä seurustelen nyt.

Seurustella is usually closer to “to be in a (steady) relationship” than just going on casual dates.

• Minä seurustelen nyt.
  ≈ I’m in a relationship now / I’m seeing someone (in a more serious way).

If you say Minä seurustelen nyt, Finns normally understand that you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner, not that you’re just going on random dates with different people. For casual dating, other verbs (like tapailla) are more natural.

You can absolutely drop Minä:

• Minä seurustelen nyt.
• Seurustelen nyt.

Both are correct Finnish.

Details:

• Finnish verbs have person endings, so seurustelen already tells us the subject is I (1st person singular).
• Adding Minä often adds emphasis or contrast, for example:
  • Minä seurustelen nyt, mutta hän ei.
    I’m in a relationship now, but he/she isn’t.
• In a neutral statement, you’ll very often hear just:
  • Seurustelen nyt.

The dictionary form is seurustella (“to be in a relationship, to date (steadily)”).

It’s a type 3 verb (-lla / -llä ending). The stem is seurustele-.

Present tense conjugation:

• minä seurustelen – I’m in a relationship
• sinä seurustelet – you are in a relationship
• hän seurustelee – he/she is in a relationship
• me seurustelemme – we are in a relationship
• te seurustelette – you (pl.) are in a relationship
• he seurustelevat – they are in a relationship

The pattern is the same as e.g. ajattelen (to think), opettelen (I learn).

The -n ending marks 1st person singular (I) in the present tense.

• seurustele- = verb stem
• -n = “I”

So:

• seurustelen = I am in a relationship / I date (steadily)
• seurustelet (with -t) = you (singular) are in a relationship
• seurustelee (no ending) = he/she is in a relationship

In this sentence, nyt is usually understood as “nowadays / at the present time in my life”, not literally “at this exact second”:

• Minä seurustelen nyt.
  → I’m (currently) in a relationship now.

If you wanted to emphasize “right this very moment”, you’d more likely say juuri nyt:

• En voi puhua, seurustelen juuri nyt jonkun kanssa.
  I can’t talk, I’m chatting with someone right now.
  (This is a bit forced with seurustella, but natural with other verbs like keskustella.)

So in relationship talk, nyt usually signals a current state in your life, not a temporary action at this precise second.

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and each version has a slightly different emphasis:

1. Minä seurustelen nyt.
   Neutral; slight emphasis on I if context contrasts you with others.

2. Seurustelen nyt.
   Very natural, neutral statement: I’m in a relationship now.

3. Nyt seurustelen.
   Puts focus on nyt (“now”):

   • Implication like “Now I am in a relationship (whereas before I wasn’t).”

4. Seurustelen minä nyt.
   Acceptable but more marked/emphatic, often in contrastive or slightly dramatic speech:

   • I am in a relationship now, I am – perhaps contradicting someone.

Every version is grammatically correct; nuance comes from what you want to highlight.

You use seurustella jonkun kanssa – literally “to be in a relationship with someone (with someone)”:

• Minä seurustelen nyt.
  I’m in a relationship now (unspecified with whom).

• Minä seurustelen Pekan kanssa.
  I’m in a relationship with Pekka.
  (Pekka → Pekan, genitive, + kanssa “with”)

Pattern:

• seurustella
  • [person in genitive]
    • kanssa

Examples:

• Hän seurustelee Lauran kanssa. – He/She is in a relationship with Laura.
• Seurustelen yhden kivan miehen kanssa. – I’m in a relationship with a nice guy.

Seurustella normally implies a steady or at least exclusive relationship:

• Think of: “to be going out with someone / to be in a relationship”
  rather than “to go on dates” with multiple people.

If you say:

• Seurustelen nyt.
  People assume you have a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and that it’s more than just a few dates.

For casual dating / going on dates with different people, Finns more often use tapailla:

• Tapaillen nyt pariakin ihmistä.
  I’m (kinda) seeing/dating a couple of people now.

They overlap around “dating”, but the default nuance is different:

• seurustella

  • to be in a relationship, to date someone steadily
  • implies some level of commitment / being a “couple”

• tapailla

  • to meet up with someone repeatedly, to date in the sense of “go on dates”
  • can be casual, maybe multiple people

Compare:

• Seurustelen nyt yhden miehen kanssa.
  I’m in a relationship with one guy now. (sounds fairly serious)

• Tapailen nyt yhtä miestä.
  I’m seeing / dating one guy now. (could still be in the getting-to-know stage)

Use the past tense of seurustella:

Past tense (imperfect) stem: seurusteli-

• Minä seurustelin. – I was in a relationship / I dated (steadily).
• Minä seurustelin hänen kanssaan. – I used to date him/her / I was in a relationship with him/her.

Examples:

• Minä seurustelin hänen kanssaan kaksi vuotta.
  I was in a relationship with him/her for two years.

• Me seurustelimme ennen, mutta erosimme.
  We used to be in a relationship / We dated before, but we broke up.

In casual spoken Finnish, Minä usually becomes Mä. The verb here often stays the same in many dialects:

• Mä seurustelen nyt.

You might also hear some reduction in fast speech (like dropping some vowels or sounds), but mä seurustelen nyt is a very typical, natural spoken version of Minä seurustelen nyt.