Learn Hardcore Finnish: Myöhäinen bussi on melkein tyhjä, ja kotiin on rauhallista palata. - The late bus is almost empty, and it is peaceful to return home.

myöhäinen bussi = a late(-night) bus, i.e. a bus that is scheduled to run late in the evening or at night.
- It describes the type or time of the bus.
- Comparable to English: the late bus, the night bus.
bussi on myöhässä = the bus is late / delayed (it should already have arrived but hasn’t).
- This is about punctuality, not time of day.

So in the sentence, myöhäinen bussi means “the bus that runs late (at night)”, not “a bus that is running behind schedule”.

Why is the adjective myöhäinen used, and not something like myöhä or myöhäistä?

The basic dictionary form of the adjective is myöhäinen (late).

myöhäinen is nominative singular, used for an attributive adjective in front of a noun:
- myöhäinen bussi = a/the late bus
myöhäistä is the partitive singular of the same adjective, used in other structures, e.g.:
- On myöhäistä lähteä. = It is too late to leave.

Myöhä on its own is not the standard adjective form; you’ll see it only in some colloquial or dialectal expressions.

Because the adjective is directly modifying bussi and there is no reason to use another case, the correct form here is myöhäinen.

There is no word for “the” in myöhäinen bussi. How do we know it means the late bus and not a late bus?

Finnish has no articles (no words for a/an or the). Whether something is definite (the bus) or indefinite (a bus) comes from context, not from a separate word.

myöhäinen bussi by itself could be translated as either:

a late bus
the late bus

In a natural context (e.g. the speaker and listener both know which bus they’re talking about), English will usually choose the even though Finnish doesn’t mark that explicitly.

What does melkein mean, and why is it placed before tyhjä?

melkein means almost or nearly.

melkein tyhjä = almost empty

In Finnish, adverbs like melkein normally come before the word they modify, just like almost in English:

melkein valmis = almost ready
melkein tyhjä = almost empty

You could put melkein in a slightly different place for emphasis, but melkein tyhjä is the standard and most natural order here.

Why is it tyhjä and not tyhjiä or something plural?

The form of the adjective tyhjä agrees with the subject bussi:

bussi (singular) → tyhjä (singular)

So:

Bussi on melkein tyhjä. = The bus is almost empty.

If the subject were plural, then the adjective would also be plural:

Bussit ovat melkein tyhjiä. = The buses are almost empty.

Even though you may be thinking about the many seats inside the bus, grammatically you are describing one thing: the bus, so the adjective stays singular.

Why is there a comma before ja? In English we often skip the comma before “and”.

In Finnish, when you join two independent clauses (each with its own verb) with ja (and), it is very common—and often recommended—to use a comma:

Myöhäinen bussi on melkein tyhjä, ja kotiin on rauhallista palata.
- Clause 1: Myöhäinen bussi on melkein tyhjä.
- Clause 2: Kotiin on rauhallista palata.

Each clause could stand as a sentence on its own, so a comma is natural before ja.

In more informal writing, some people might leave it out, but the version with the comma is very standard and correct.

Why is it kotiin and not just koti?

kotiin is the illative case, which usually means into / to (a place) and indicates movement towards somewhere.

koti = home (basic form)
kotiin = (to) home, homeward (movement)
kotona = at home (location)
kotoa = from home (movement away)

In kotiin on rauhallista palata, the verb palata (to return) expresses movement, so kotiin (to home) is the correct form:

palata kotiin = to return home / to go back home

Why is there no word for “it” in kotiin on rauhallista palata? In English we say “it is peaceful to return home”.

Finnish often uses impersonal sentences without any subject where English uses a dummy it:

On rauhallista palata kotiin.
Literally: Is peaceful to return home.
Meaning: It is peaceful to return home.

The “real” content of the sentence is the idea to return home (palata kotiin), and this behaves like the subject in meaning. Finnish doesn’t need a separate se (it) to fill the subject slot.

You could say Se on rauhallista, kun palaa kotiin (It is peaceful when you return home), but that’s a different, more explicit structure. The original sentence uses the very typical On + adjective (partitive) + infinitive pattern.

Why is rauhallista in that -sta form instead of rauhallinen?

rauhallista is the partitive singular of the adjective rauhallinen (peaceful).

When Finnish uses the pattern:

On + adjective + infinitive verb
- e.g. It is ADJECTIVE to do something

the adjective normally appears in this “neuter-like” partitive singular form:

On hauskaa lukea. = It is fun to read.
On vaikeaa ymmärtää. = It is difficult to understand.
On tärkeää muistaa. = It is important to remember.
On rauhallista palata kotiin. = It is peaceful to return home.

So rauhallista is not random; it follows this regular pattern for describing what it’s like to do something with an infinitive.

What exactly is the form of palata here, and what is its role?

palata is the 1st infinitive (the basic dictionary form of the verb), and it functions almost like a verb-noun:

palata kotiin ≈ to return home / returning home

In the structure:

On rauhallista palata kotiin.

the infinitive phrase palata kotiin is the thing being described as peaceful. In English we use “to” + verb or an -ing form; in Finnish the bare infinitive can fill that role:

It is peaceful *to return home. → *On rauhallista palata kotiin.

Can you change the word order and say On rauhallista palata kotiin instead of Kotiin on rauhallista palata? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say both:

On rauhallista palata kotiin.
Kotiin on rauhallista palata.

The basic meaning is the same: It is peaceful to return home.

The difference is mostly emphasis / focus:

On rauhallista palata kotiin.
– more neutral; starts from the general statement “it is peaceful to return home.”
Kotiin on rauhallista palata.
– slightly emphasizes kotiin (home): “It is to home that it is peaceful to return,” as opposed to somewhere else.

Both are perfectly natural Finnish.

Could you also say On rauhallinen palata kotiin instead of on rauhallista palata kotiin?

No, On rauhallinen palata kotiin is not idiomatic and sounds ungrammatical.

For this type of sentence, Finnish strongly prefers the pattern:

On + adjective (partitive singular) + infinitive
- On rauhallista palata kotiin.
- On hauskaa matkustaa.
- On vaikeaa puhua suomea.

Using rauhallinen (nominative) would suggest that you’re describing some concrete noun as peaceful, e.g.:

Ilta on rauhallinen. = The evening is peaceful.
Bussi on rauhallinen. = The bus is peaceful/quiet.

But with an infinitive (“to return home”), Finnish uses the partitive form: rauhallista.