Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen salaattia varten.

tarvitsen ends in -n, which marks 1st person singular (“I”).
So Tarvitsen haarukan… already means “I need a fork…”
Adding minä is grammatically correct but usually only done for emphasis or contrast:
- Minä tarvitsen haarukan, enkä sinä. – I need a fork, not you.

So the sentence without minä is the most natural everyday version.

What is the base (dictionary) form of tarvitsen, and how is it conjugated?

The dictionary form (infinitive) is tarvita – “to need”.

It’s a type 5 verb (ending in -ita / -itä). The present tense conjugation is:

minä tarvitsen – I need
sinä tarvitset – you (sg.) need
hän tarvitsee – he/she needs
me tarvitsemme – we need
te tarvitsette – you (pl.) need
he tarvitsevat – they need

So tarvitsen is the 1st person singular form.

Why are haarukan and veitsen in the -n form and not just haarukka and veitsi?

Haarukan and veitsen are objects of the verb tarvitsen, and they are in the genitive singular (ending -n), used here as the “total object”.

For countable things in a normal positive present tense sentence:

If you are talking about a whole, complete item → use genitive (-n) as the object
- Tarvitsen haarukan. – I need a (one) fork (a whole fork)
- Tarvitsen veitsen. – I need a (one) knife

If you said:

Tarvitsen haarukkaa / veistä, that partitive form would suggest something more open-ended or incomplete, like:
- “I (kind of) need a fork/knife” (ongoing search, no clear limit, slight nuance of incompleteness).

Here, you clearly need one full fork and one full knife, so haarukan and veitsen (genitive total objects) are natural.

Why is salaattia in the -a form and not salaatti?

Salaattia is in the partitive singular. There are two key reasons:

The postposition varten always takes its complement in the partitive case.
- salaattia varten – “for salad / for the salad”
Semantically, salaattia here means salad as a substance or indefinite amount, not a single, countable “one salad”.
- salaatti (nominative) often means “a (whole) salad” as a dish.
- salaattia (partitive) is more like “some salad / salad in general”.

So grammatically, varten requires partitive, and semantically, the partitive fits the idea of salad as “stuff, food” rather than one unit.

What exactly does salaattia varten mean? Is it “for salad” or “for the salad”?

Salaattia varten literally means “for salad”, but the English translation can be either:

“for salad”
“for the salad”

Finnish doesn’t have articles (a / the), so the context decides whether English should use “a” or “the”.

Also, because salaattia is partitive, it feels more like:

“for (eating) salad” / “for salad in general”

If the context is clear (you’re sitting at the table in front of the salad), it’s perfectly natural to translate it as “for the salad” in English.

Could I say Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen salaatille instead of …salaattia varten?

You can, but the meaning shifts.

salaattia varten
- more neutral, general “for salad”
- usual way to express purpose: you need these utensils in order to eat salad.
salaatille (allative case)
- often implies “for the salad (as a recipient)”
- might suggest you are doing something to the salad:
  - Otan kastiketta salaatille. – I’ll take some dressing for the salad.
  - Ostan kulhon salaatille. – I’ll buy a bowl for the salad.

So Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen salaattia varten is the natural way to say you need them in order to eat salad.
…salaatille would sound more like the fork and knife are somehow for the salad as an object/recipient, which is odd.

Why is varten after salaattia and not before it, like a preposition in English?

Varten is a postposition, not a preposition.

In English: for salad → preposition **for comes before “salad”.
In Finnish: salaattia varten → postposition **varten comes after its complement.

Structure:

[NOUN in partitive] + varten
- lasten varten – for the children
- matkaa varten – for the trip
- salaattia varten – for salad

That’s why it appears after salaattia.

Can I change the word order and say Tarvitsen salaattia varten haarukan ja veitsen?

Yes, that word order is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit less natural and more marked.

Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen salaattia varten.
- Neutral, typical: focus first on what you need, then for what purpose.
Tarvitsen salaattia varten haarukan ja veitsen.
- Puts emphasis on salaattia varten (“for salad”) first, as if you’re contrasting it with some other purpose:
  - I don’t need them for the main course; I need them *for salad…*

Everyday default: keep haarukan ja veitsen before salaattia varten.

How would I say it if I need more than one fork and knife?

If you clearly need a specific number, you normally show that with a numeral:

Tarvitsen kaksi haarukkaa ja kaksi veistä salaattia varten.
– I need two forks and two knives for salad.

Without a number, you’d put the plural in partitive if it’s just some unspecified amount:

Tarvitsen haarukoita ja veitsiä salaattia varten.
– I need (some) forks and knives for salad.

If you use haarukat ja veitset (nominative plural) as total objects, it sounds like all the forks and knives in question:

Tarvitsen haarukat ja veitset salaattia varten.
– I need the forks and knives (the ones we’re talking about) for salad.

How do you express the English “a fork and (a) knife” when Finnish has no articles?

Finnish has no articles like a / an / the. The idea of “a fork and a knife” is expressed through:

singular countable nouns as total objects:
- Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen…
  – I need a fork and a knife…

If you need to be crystal clear about “one”, you can add yhden:

Tarvitsen yhden haarukan ja yhden veitsen salaattia varten.
– I need one fork and one knife for salad.

But in normal conversation, Tarvitsen haarukan ja veitsen salaattia varten is understood just like English “I need a fork and a knife for salad.”