Learn Hardcore Finnish: Aamulla riisun pyjaman ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan. - In the morning I take off my pyjamas and put on thick wool socks.

Aamulla is aamu in the adessive case (ending -lla / -llä). For times of day, Finnish very often uses the adessive to mean at / in that time:

aamu → aamulla = in the morning
päivä → päivällä = in the daytime / in the afternoon
ilta → illalla = in the evening
yö → yöllä = at night

So aamulla riisun… literally is something like “on the morning I take off…”, but idiomatically it’s “in the morning I…”.

A related form is:

aamuisin = in the mornings, every morning (habitually)

So:

Aamulla riisun pyjaman… = This (one) morning / in the morning I take off my pyjamas…
Aamuisin riisun pyjaman… = In the mornings / every morning I take off my pyjamas…

What exactly does riisun mean, and how is it formed?

The dictionary form is riisua = to take off (clothes), to undress.

Finnish verbs add a personal ending to show the subject. For riisua in the present tense:

(minä) riisun = I take off
(sinä) riisut = you take off
(hän) riisuu = he/she takes off

So riisun is “I take off / I am taking off”.

Important points:

You don’t need to say minä.
- Riisun pyjaman. = I take off the pyjamas.
- Minä riisun pyjaman. = same meaning, but minä adds emphasis (I, not someone else).
Finnish doesn’t have a special present continuous form like English “I am taking off”. Context covers both simple and continuous:
- Nyt riisun pyjaman. = Now I’m taking off my pyjamas.
- Aamulla riisun pyjaman. = In the morning I (usually) take off my pyjamas.

Why is it pyjaman and not just pyjama or something like pyjamat?

The base word is pyjama (pyjamas). In this sentence, pyjaman is in the genitive singular, and it is used as a total object.

Roughly:

pyjama = nominative
pyjaman = genitive (and used as total object)
pyjamaa = partitive (and used as partial / ongoing object)

In Aamulla riisun pyjaman…, the idea is:

You take off the whole pyjama (the whole garment).
The action is seen as complete (you end up with it fully off).

In that situation, Finnish normally uses the total object, which for a singular noun is often the genitive:

Riisun pyjaman. = I take off (all of) the pyjamas. (complete action)
Riisun pyjamaa. = I’m (in the middle of) taking off the pyjamas. / describing an ongoing process, not finished.

About singular vs plural:

Finnish usually treats pyjama as one garment set, so it’s singular.
English normally says “pyjamas” (plural), but Finnish uses pyjama (singular) in this context.
Pyjamat (plural) is possible in Finnish, but it usually refers to several sets: many pyjamas.

Why is there no word for “my”? How do you say “my pyjamas” or “on my feet” in Finnish?

Finnish very often omits the possessor (my, your, his/her) when it is clear from context, especially with:

body parts: feet, hands, head
clothes you’re wearing: coat, shoes, socks

So:

riisun pyjaman is naturally understood as “I take off my pyjamas”.
laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan is understood as “I put thick wool socks on (my) feet.”

If you really want to say “my pyjamas” explicitly, you have two main ways:

Use a possessive suffix:
- pyjaman = pyjama (object, as before)
- pyjaman(i) = my pyjama(s)
- Aamulla riisun pyjaman(i).
Use a pronoun in the genitive minun
- optional suffix:
- minun pyjaman(i) = my pyjama(s)
- In everyday speech people often drop the suffix and just say:
  - Minun pyjaman riisun. (more emphatic word order)

But in normal, neutral sentences about your own clothes or body:

Leaving out “my” is more natural: riisun pyjaman, laitan sukat jalkaan, pesen kädet (I wash my hands).

What does laitan mean here? Is it the same as “to put” in English, and how about panna or pukea?

The dictionary form is laittaa. It has several meanings, but one basic one is “to put, to place”.

Present tense:

(minä) laitan = I put
(sinä) laitat = you put
(hän) laittaa = he/she puts

In laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan, it simply means “I put (on)”.

Other common verbs for putting on clothes:

panna:
- Panen sukat jalkaan. = I put the socks on.
- Very common and perfectly standard, though it also has a slang meaning “to have sex”, so some learners prefer laittaa at first.
pukea:
- basic meaning: to dress (someone), to put clothes on
- Puen jalkaan sukat. = literally I dress (onto) my feet socks → I put socks on.
- More typical is pukea päälle jotakin: Puen päälle takin. = I put on a coat.

So in this sentence, laitan is a very natural, neutral way to say “(I) put (on)”.

Why is it paksut villasukat and not just paksu villasukat? What’s going on with the -t?

Finnish adjectives must agree with the noun in number and case.

Noun: villasukka = wool sock
- plural nominative: villasukat = wool socks
Adjective: paksu = thick
- plural nominative: paksut = thick (plural)

Because villasukat is plural, the adjective also has to be plural:

paksu villasukka = thick wool sock (singular)
paksut villasukat = thick wool socks (plural)

So the -t on paksut matches the -t on villasukat.
(They are both in nominative plural, used here as a total object.)

How is the word villasukat formed, and why is there no space between “villa” and “sukat”?

Villasukat is a compound noun:

villa = wool
sukka = sock
villasukka = wool sock / woollen sock
villasukat = wool socks (plural)

Finnish loves compound words, where English would often use two separate words:

villapaita = wool sweater / jumper (villa + paita)
villatakki = cardigan (villa + takki “coat/jacket”)
talvisaappaat = winter boots (talvi “winter” + saappaat “boots”)

So villasukat literally is “wool-socks” written as one word, not villa sukat.

Why is it jalkaan and not a plural form like jalkoihin, and what case is this?

The base word:

jalka = foot / leg

Jalkaan is the illative singular of jalka (ending -an), and it normally means “into / onto the foot”.

For clothing, Finnish has a very strong idiom:

laittaa sukat jalkaan = put socks on (one’s) feet
panna kengät jalkaan = put shoes on (one’s) feet
pistää housut jalkaan = put trousers on (one’s) legs

Even though there are two socks and two feet, Finnish typically uses:

singular jalkaan in these expressions.

There is a plural illative:

jalkoihin = into/to the feet

…but laittaa sukat jalkoihin sounds odd or unnatural for “put socks on”. You’ll hear jalkaan for clothes on body parts.

So:

jalkaan = onto (my) foot/feet (idiomatic for putting clothes on)
Case: illative singular of jalka.

A related very common structure:

Minulla on villasukat jalassa.
= I have wool socks on (my feet).
Here jalassa is inessive singular (“in/on the foot”) used in a similar idiomatic way.

Can I change the word order? For example, is laitan jalkaan paksut villasukat also correct?

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and both are correct:

laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan
laitan jalkaan paksut villasukat

Both mean “I put thick wool socks on (my feet)”.

Nuance:

laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan is probably the most neutral order:
VERB – OBJECT – PLACE (put [what] [where]).
laitan jalkaan paksut villasukat slightly highlights the destination (jalkaan), but the difference is small. Spoken Finnish uses both.

You can also move aamulla around:

Aamulla riisun pyjaman ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan.
Riisun pyjaman aamulla ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan.

The first is the most typical for “In the morning I…”, but both are grammatical.

Is the sentence talking about a routine, or just one specific morning? How does Finnish show that?

The verb forms riisun and laitan are plain present tense. Finnish present tense can mean:

something happening now,
something that happens generally / habitually,
or, with a future time expression, a future event.

Context decides.

In this sentence:

Aamulla riisun pyjaman ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan.

It usually describes a routine:

“In the morning I (usually) take off my pyjamas and put thick wool socks on.”

If you want to make the habitual meaning crystal clear, you can say:

Aamuisin riisun pyjaman ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan.
= In the mornings / Every morning I take off my pyjamas…

About aspect and the object:

Riisun pyjaman. (genitive object) = complete event – I get them fully off.
Riisun pyjamaa. (partitive object) = I’m in the process of taking them off (ongoing, not necessarily finished).

So both the time word (aamulla / aamuisin) and the object case help show whether we’re talking about a whole, completed action and whether it’s routine or just one occasion.

Could you show some natural alternative ways to say the same thing in Finnish, and what (if anything) changes in meaning?

A few common variants:

Aamuisin riisun pyjaman ja laitan paksut villasukat jalkaan.
- Emphasises a habit: In the mornings / Every morning...
Aamulla otan pyjaman pois ja panen jalkaan paksut villasukat.
- otan pois = take off (literally “take away”)
- panen instead of laitan – very common in speech.
- Same meaning, slightly more colloquial feel.
Aamulla riisun yöpuvun ja laitan villasukat jalkaan.
- yöpuku = nightwear / nightdress / pyjamas
- A bit more neutral/formal word for sleepwear than pyjama in some contexts.
Aamulla riisun pyjaman ja puen jalkaan paksut villasukat.
- puen jalkaan = literally “I dress onto (my feet)…” → I put on.
- Slightly more “textbook”, but fully natural.

All of these are grammatical and natural; they differ mainly in:

choice of verb (riisua / ottaa pois / panna / laittaa / pukea),
whether you mark the action as clearly habitual (aamulla vs aamuisin),
and whether you use pyjama or yöpuku for sleepwear.