Learn Hardcore Finnish: Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla, joten siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen. - The toys are all over the floor, so I move them to the guest room.

You may hear Lelut on in everyday spoken Finnish. In colloquial speech, Finns very often use the 3rd person singular verb form with plural subjects:

(Ne) lelut on kaikkialla lattialla. (colloquial)
(Ne) lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla. (standard)

Both are understandable, but ovat is what you use in proper written Finnish.

What exactly does kaikkialla lattialla mean? Why both kaikkialla and lattialla?

Kaikkialla lattialla literally means “everywhere on the floor”.

kaikkialla = everywhere (literally “in all places”)
lattialla = on the floor (adessive case, lattia → lattialla)

English can say “The toys are all over the floor” using just “all over the floor”. Finnish often expresses this as “everywhere on the floor”, i.e. an adverb of place (kaikkialla) + a specific location (lattialla).

You could say just:

Lelut ovat lattialla. – The toys are on the floor.
(no emphasis on everywhere)

By adding kaikkialla, you emphasize that the toys are spread out, not just lying in one spot:

Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla. – The toys are all over the floor.

Why is it lattialla and not just lattia?

Finnish normally marks location using cases, not prepositions.

lattia = floor (basic form, nominative)
lattialla = on the floor (adessive case)
- The adessive (-lla / -llä) often corresponds to English on or at.

So:

Lelut ovat lattia. – incorrect (sounds like “The toys are a floor.”)
Lelut ovat lattialla. – correct: The toys are on the floor.

Related forms:

lattialle – onto the floor (movement towards)
lattialta – off / from the floor (movement away)
lattialla – on the floor (location, no movement)

Can the word order kaikkialla lattialla be changed, like lattialla kaikkialla?

The natural order here is kaikkialla lattialla.

Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla.
This sounds normal and means “The toys are everywhere on the floor / all over the floor.”

If you say:

Lelut ovat lattialla kaikkialla.

it’s still understandable, but it sounds less natural and a bit clumsy. Finnish tends to place a more general location adverb (kaikkialla) before the more specific noun phrase (lattialla).

Word order in Finnish is flexible, but there is a typical “feel” to what sounds idiomatic. In this case:

[are] [everywhere] [on the floor]
fits the normal pattern better than [are] [on the floor] [everywhere].

Why is the pronoun ne used, and not niitä?

Ne is the plural personal pronoun (they / them) for things and animals (non-human). It’s also used for people in very casual speech, but standard language uses he for people.

In this sentence:

Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla, joten siirrän ne...
- lelut = toys (plural)
- ne = them (refers back to lelut)

Grammatically:

In a normal affirmative clause with a plural object, Finnish uses the nominative plural form:
- Siirrän ne. – I’ll move them.
The partitive form niitä is used in situations such as:
- After certain verbs;
- With incomplete/ongoing actions;
- With quantities or “some of” meanings.

For example:

Siirrän niitä koko ajan. – I keep moving them (some / them repeatedly).
Näen ne. – I see them. (whole group: ne, not niitä)

In the given sentence, the speaker is moving all the toys, as a definite group, so ne is appropriate.

What does joten mean, and how is it used compared to words like siksi or koska?

joten means roughly “so / therefore”, and it links two clauses where the second is a logical consequence of the first.

Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla, joten siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen.
→ The toys are all over the floor, so I’ll move them to the guest room.

Comparison:

koska = because (introduces the reason clause)
- Siirrän lelut vierashuoneeseen, koska ne ovat kaikkialla lattialla.
  I’ll move the toys to the guest room because they are all over the floor.
siksi = for that reason / that’s why (often with a pronoun)
- Lelut ovat kaikkialla lattialla, ja siksi siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen.
  The toys are all over the floor, and for that reason I’ll move them...
joten works much like English “so” in:
- It’s late, so I’m going home.
  → On myöhä, joten menen kotiin.

Also note the comma before joten: Finnish uses a comma between independent clauses joined by joten, similar to English.

How is siirrän formed from the verb siirtää?

The basic verb is siirtää = to move, shift, transfer.

Its present tense 1st person singular (I) form is siirrän:

minä siirrän – I move / I will move

Formation:

Verb stem: siirtä-
Add personal ending for 1st person singular: -n
Apply consonant gradation: t → rr in this environment
→ siirtä- + n → siirr-än → siirrän

So:

siirtää – to move
siirrän – I move / I am moving
siirrät – you (sg) move
siirtää – he/she/it moves
siirrämme – we move, etc.

The double rr and the ä at the end are both important; “siiran” or “siirtän” would be wrong.

Why is the object ne placed before vierashuoneeseen and not after, like siirrän vierashuoneeseen ne?

The natural, neutral order is:

siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen
→ verb – object – direction

This mirrors a common Finnish pattern: [do] [what] [where/to where].

You can say siirrän vierashuoneeseen ne, but it sounds unusual or marked. It might be used for special emphasis on vierashuoneeseen or in poetry/song, but not as the normal everyday order.

So:

(Minä) siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen. – I’ll move them to the guest room.
is the idiomatic version.

What case is vierashuoneeseen, and how is it formed?

Vierashuoneeseen is in the illative case, which typically expresses movement into something (often corresponds to English into / to a room or space).

Base word:

vierashuone = guest room

Illative singular:

vierashuone → vierashuoneeseen
- Add -seen / -een type ending (here: -eseen)
- The form ends up as vierashuoneeseen.

Meaning:

siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen
→ I’ll move them into the guest room / to the guest room.

Some more examples of the same pattern:

huone → huoneeseen – into the room
koulu → kouluun – to school
kauppa → kauppaan – to the shop

Could we say vierashuoneessa or vierashuoneelle instead of vierashuoneeseen? What would change?

Each of these cases has a different meaning:

vierashuoneeseen (illative) = into the guest room / to the guest room
→ movement into an enclosed space.
vierashuoneessa (inessive) = in the guest room
→ location inside the guest room (no movement implied).
vierashuoneelle (allative) = onto / to the guest room (as a surface / area)
→ more like movement to a “place” or “area” (often with surfaces or people, e.g. pöydälle, opettajalle). With vierashuone it would sound odd in this context; you normally go into a room, not “onto” it.

In this sentence, you want to express movement into the room, so vierashuoneeseen is the correct and natural choice:

...joten siirrän ne vierashuoneeseen.
– ...so I’ll move them into the guest room.