Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin.

Minusta tuntuu… = “It feels (to me) that…”
(literally: “From me it feels that…”)
Sinusta tuntuu… = “It feels (to you) that…”
Hänestä tuntuu… = “It feels (to him/her) that…”

So Minusta is not the subject; it marks whose feeling it is. The subject of tuntuu is the whole että‑clause that follows.

What exactly does tuntuu mean here, and why not tunnen?

Finnish has two different verbs that both relate to “feel” in English:

tuntea = “to feel / to know / to be acquainted with” (transitive, takes an object)
- Tunnen sinut. = “I know you.”
- Tunnen kivun. = “I feel the pain.”
tuntua = “to feel / to seem / to give the impression” (intransitive, often impersonal)
- Minusta tuntuu, että… = “I feel that… / It seems to me that…”

In Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin, you are not “feeling something with your senses”; you are expressing a subjective impression or opinion. That’s why Finnish uses tuntua, not tuntea.

So:

tunnen would need a direct object (what do you feel/know?),
tuntuu introduces the content of what seems true, here via the että‑clause.

Why is the verb tuntuu in 3rd person singular if the sentence is about “I”?

Grammatically, the subject of tuntuu here is not minä/minusta. The subject is the että‑clause:

että tämä on väärin = “that this is wrong”

In Finnish, a finite että‑clause can function as a subject, and verbs with such “clausal subjects” are in 3rd person singular:

On selvää, että… = “It is clear that…”
Tuntuu siltä, että… = “It feels like…”

So the structure is roughly:

[Minusta] [tuntuu], [että tämä on väärin].
→ “(To me) it feels (that this is wrong).”

The minusta part only tells us whose feeling it is; it does not control verb agreement. That’s why it is tuntuu, not tunnen or tunnen minä.

Why is there a comma before että?

In standard written Finnish, a comma is normally used before a finite että‑clause that functions as a subordinate clause (here, it gives the content of what is felt):

Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin.
Luulen, että hän tulee. = “I think that he is coming.”

So the comma marks the boundary between the main clause (Minusta tuntuu) and the subordinate clause (että tämä on väärin). In English you can drop the comma, but in Finnish it is expected in this kind of sentence.

What is the role of että in this sentence?

Että is a subordinating conjunction meaning roughly “that”. It introduces the subordinate clause that states what feels a certain way:

Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin.
→ “It feels (to me) that this is wrong.”

So:

Main clause: Minusta tuntuu – “It feels to me”
Subordinate clause introduced by että: että tämä on väärin – “that this is wrong”

Without että you cannot simply follow tuntuu with a finite clause; you would need a different construction (see a later question about omitting että).

Why is it tämä and not se? What’s the difference?

Finnish has several demonstratives; the most common are:

tämä = “this” (near the speaker, immediate, strongly pointed at)
tuo = “that” (near the listener or visible but not near the speaker)
se = “it / that” (more neutral, often something already known in context)

In your sentence:

tämä suggests “this thing here / this very case”, often something you are directly dealing with or just introducing strongly.
se would be more like “it / that (thing we’ve been talking about)”, a bit less emphatic and more backgrounded.

Both are possible:

Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin.
Minusta tuntuu, että se on väärin.

The choice depends on context and nuance. If you are pointing to something specific (an action, a decision, a situation you’re highlighting right now), tämä fits very well.

What form is väärin, and how is it different from väärä and väärää?

All three are related to the basic adjective väärä (“wrong, incorrect”), but they have different roles:

väärä – adjective, base (nominative singular)
- väärä vastaus = “a wrong answer”
- Vastaus on väärä. = “The answer is wrong (the wrong one).”
väärin – adverb (and also a special predicative form)
- Teit sen väärin. = “You did it wrongly / in the wrong way.”
- Tämä on väärin. = “This is wrong (morally / in principle).”
In sentences like Tämä on väärin, Finnish tends to use väärin (adverbial) rather than väärä, especially when judging an action or situation as morally / ethically wrong or fundamentally unjust.
väärää – partitive singular of väärä
- En halua väärää vastausta. = “I don’t want the wrong answer.”
- Used where grammar requires partitive (e.g. objects, certain predicates, quantities, etc.), not in your sentence.

So in tämä on väärin, you are saying “this is wrong (in the sense of unjust / not right to do),” and väärin is the natural form for that judgment.

Could you say Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärä instead? Would that change the meaning?

You can say Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärä, but it usually has a different nuance:

tämä on väärin → “this is wrong” in a moral / principled or strongly evaluative sense (the action or situation is unjust / not acceptable).
tämä on väärä → “this is the wrong one” among alternatives (e.g. the wrong answer, wrong product, wrong number), more like a choice mistake.

Examples:

Looking at someone cheating on an exam:
- Tämä on väärin. → “This is wrong (you shouldn’t do this).”
Picking up a wrong form to fill:
- Tämä on väärä lomake. → “This is the wrong form.”

So with Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärä, you are more likely saying “I feel that this is the wrong one (among options),” not necessarily that it is morally wrong.

Can I leave out että and say Minusta tuntuu tämä on väärin?

No, Minusta tuntuu tämä on väärin is ungrammatical in standard Finnish.

If you want to avoid että, you must change the structure. The natural alternatives are either:

Use että normally (most common and natural):
- Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin.
Use a participle construction (more formal/written):
- Minusta tuntuu tämän olevan väärin.
  (“It feels to me [this’s-being wrong].”)

But you cannot attach a finite on‑clause directly to tuntuu without että. Finnish doesn’t allow the English pattern “I feel this is wrong” without a conjunction or restructuring.

How formal or informal is Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin? What about colloquial speech?

Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin is neutral standard Finnish – perfectly fine in speech and writing, in most contexts.

In everyday spoken Finnish, many people shorten and reduce words:

Minusta → Musta
että → et / että (both heard; et is more colloquial)
tämä → tää

So you will often hear something like:

Musta tuntuu, et tää on väärin.

This is very common in casual speech but should generally not be used in formal writing or in situations where standard language is expected. The meaning stays the same; only the register and pronunciation change.

Is Minusta tuntuu the only or the most common way to say “I think / I feel (that)…”?

It’s very common, but not the only one. Some other frequent options:

Minun mielestäni tämä on väärin.
→ literally “In my opinion this is wrong.”
Often a bit more explicitly opinion-like, not necessarily emotional.
Minusta tämä on väärin.
→ “I think this is wrong.”
Here minusta is a kind of “according to me,” without tuntuu. Slightly more direct than Minusta tuntuu, että…, which can sound a bit more tentative or feeling-based.
Minun mielestä tämä on väärin. (spoken, dropping the final -ni)
→ “I think this is wrong.” (colloquial)

So:

Minusta tuntuu, että… = “It feels to me that… / I have the feeling that…”
Minun mielestäni… = “In my opinion…”
Minusta… (without tuntuu) = “To me / in my view…”

Can the word order change, for example Tuntuu minusta, että tämä on väärin?

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and you can move elements for emphasis:

Minusta tuntuu, että tämä on väärin. (neutral)
Tuntuu minusta, että tämä on väärin. (emphasis on tuntuu or on contrast with someone else’s feeling)

However:

The neutral, most natural order in everyday language is Minusta tuntuu, että….
Inverting to Tuntuu minusta, että… can sound more emphatic, poetic, or stylistically marked. It’s grammatical, but stylistic.

The että‑clause normally stays after the main clause (you rarely place että tämä on väärin in front in this type of sentence unless you want very unusual emphasis).

Are there other verbs/expressions that work like Minusta tuntuu with -sta/-stä?

Yes, several verbs of seeming / appearing / affecting someone use the elative (-sta/-stä) for the experiencer, similar to Minusta tuntuu:

Minusta näyttää, että…
→ “It looks to me that…” / “It seems to me that…”
Minusta vaikuttaa siltä, että…
→ “It appears to me that…”
Minusta tuntuu hyvältä.
→ “It feels good to me.” (e.g. about a decision or sensation)
Sinusta tuntuu pahalta?
→ “Do you feel bad?” / “Does it feel bad to you?”

In all of these, minusta / sinusta / hänestä etc. is not the subject, but marks the person from whose perspective something seems or feels a certain way.