Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä täytän lomakkeen kotona.

you want to emphasize I (not someone else):
Minä täytän lomakkeen, et sinä. – I will fill in the form, not you.
you want to contrast people:
Minä täytän lomakkeen, sinä postitat sen.
in beginner materials, where they keep pronouns to make the person clear.

In everyday speech, many Finns would simply say: Täytän lomakkeen kotona.

What tense is täytän, and how can it mean both I fill and I will fill?

Täytän is the present tense, indicative mood, 1st person singular of the verb täyttää.

Finnish present tense is used for:

simple present: ongoing or habitual
Täytän lomakkeen nyt. – I’m filling in the form now.
near future / planned future
Täytän lomakkeen kotona. – I’ll fill in the form at home.

Finnish usually does not have a separate future tense. Context (time expressions, situation) tells you whether it’s about now or later.

How is täytän formed from the dictionary form täyttää?

The basic form is täyttää (to fill, to fill in). For the present tense:

Remove the final -ää → täytt-
Add the personal endings:

1st person singular (I): täytän
2nd person singular (you): täytät
3rd person singular (he/she): täyttää
1st person plural (we): täytämme
2nd person plural (you pl.): täytätte
3rd person plural (they): täyttävät

So täytän = stem täytä- + ending -n (the ä appears because of vowel harmony and how this verb type behaves, but functionally you can remember täyt- + -än as the 1st person form).

The important part for you now is: -n at the end of a verb usually means I do it.

Why is it lomakkeen and not lomake or lomaketta?

Lomakkeen is the object of the verb täytän, and it’s in the genitive singular case (ending -n).

Dictionary form: lomake (a form)
Genitive singular: lomakkeen

Finnish marks the object with different cases, depending on things like completeness and sentence type. Here:

Täytän lomakkeen.
The idea is that you will complete the whole form, so you use the total object, which is genitive → lomakkeen.

You’d see lomaketta (partitive) if the action is incomplete or unbounded, for example:

Täytän lomaketta. – I am (in the process of) filling in a/the form (not necessarily finishing it).

So:

lomakkeen = whole form, completed action (total object)
lomaketta = some/part/ongoing (partial object)

What is the difference between lomakkeen and lomaketta in practice?

Both can correspond to English the form / a form, but they show aspect:

Täytän lomakkeen.
→ I fill in / will fill in the whole form.
The action is seen as complete and bounded.
Täytän lomaketta.
→ I’m filling in a form / I’m in the middle of filling it in.
The focus is on the ongoing process, not on the completed whole.

English uses aspect mainly with auxiliary verbs (I fill vs I am filling), while Finnish uses object case (genitive vs partitive) to express a similar idea.

In your sentence Minä täytän lomakkeen kotona, the speaker is thinking of the action as filling out the entire form at home.

Why is there no word for a or the in front of lomakkeen?

Finnish has no articles like English a / an / the.

So:

lomake can mean a form or the form, depending on context.
lomakkeen can mean the form / that form / a certain form, again depending on context.

Context, word order, and additional words (like tämä = this, se = that) handle the meanings that English expresses with a and the.

In this sentence, lomakkeen will most naturally be understood as the form that both speaker and listener know about, but Finnish doesn’t need to mark that grammatically with an article.

What does kotona literally mean, and how do I say home in different ways in Finnish?

The basic noun is koti (home). The common location forms are:

koti – home (basic form)
kotona – at home
kotiin – (to) home, homewards
kotoa – from home

So in your sentence:

kotona = at home
Minä täytän lomakkeen kotona. – I will fill in the form at home.

These are very frequent and useful:

Olen kotona. – I’m at home.
Menen kotiin. – I’m going home.
Lähden kotoa. – I’m leaving home.

What case is kotona? Why does it end in -na, not -ssa like other inessives?

Historically, kotona is a special locative form related to an older stem koto-, not a regular modern inessive of koti. For learners, it’s usually taught simply as an irregular adverb-like form meaning at home.

Regular inessive (in, inside) usually ends in -ssa / -ssä (e.g. talossa – in the house), but home has its own irregular pattern:

kotona – at home (instead of kotissa)
kotiin – to home
kotoa – from home

You can think of kotona as its own special word meaning at home, even though historically it’s related to case endings.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Täytän lomakkeen kotona or Kotona täytän lomakkeen?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

Minä täytän lomakkeen kotona.
Täytän lomakkeen kotona.
Kotona täytän lomakkeen.
Lomakkeen täytän kotona.

The basic neutral order is S–V–O (+ place):
(Minä) täytän lomakkeen kotona.

Changing the order usually affects emphasis or what’s already known in the conversation:

Kotona täytän lomakkeen.
→ Emphasis on at home (perhaps contrasting with at work or at the office).
Lomakkeen täytän kotona.
→ Emphasis on the form (maybe contrasting with something else you do somewhere else).

But the meaning of who does what to whom is kept clear mostly by endings (like -n in lomakkeen), not by word order.

Is täyttää only used for filling in forms, or does it have other meanings?

Täyttää is a quite general verb meaning to fill, to fill up, to complete, to satisfy. Some common uses:

Fill in / fill out:
- täyttää lomake – fill in a form
- täyttää kysely – fill in a survey
Fill up (a container, space):
- täyttää lasi vedellä – fill the glass with water
- Täytin auton tankin. – I filled the car’s tank.
Turn (a certain age):
- Täytän 30 vuotta. – I (will) turn 30 (years old).
- Hän täytti 18 eilen. – He/She turned 18 yesterday.
Meet / satisfy (a requirement):
- täyttää ehdot – to meet the conditions
- täyttää vaatimukset – to fulfill the requirements

So Minä täytän lomakkeen kotona is one specific, very common use: I’ll fill in the form at home.

Why is there a double k in lomakkeen but not in lomake?

This is due to a phenomenon called consonant gradation and how the noun stem is formed.

Dictionary (nominative) form: lomake
Genitive singular: lomakkeen

The stem is actually lomakke-. In the nominative singular, the kk becomes k (a kind of weak grade), giving lomake. In other cases, the strong grade kk shows up again:

lomakkeen (genitive singular)
lomakkeet (nominative plural)
lomakkeessa (inessive: in the form)
lomaketta (partitive: some of a form / a form (as an object))

You don’t need to master all the rules at once; just notice that many Finnish words have a stem that looks slightly different from the basic dictionary form, and k/kk, t/tt, etc. may alternate.

How do you pronounce täytän? What sounds are ä and y?

Täytän has two syllables: täy-tän.

Pronunciation tips:

ä is an open front vowel, a bit like the a in cat (British-style), but usually a bit clearer and more fronted.
The combination äy is a diphthong. It starts at ä and glides towards y.
y in Finnish is a vowel, not a consonant. It’s a high, front, rounded vowel (like German ü in über or French u in lune).

So täy is pronounced roughly like taeü in one glide, and the whole word täytän is approximately:

IPA: /ˈtæy.tæn/

Stress is always on the first syllable in Finnish: TÄY-tän.