Breakdown of Tuleva matka Suomeen motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea.
Questions & Answers about Tuleva matka Suomeen motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea.
Suomeen is the illative case of Suomi and means “to / into Finland.”
- Suomi = Finland (basic / subject form)
- Suomeen = to Finland, into Finland (direction, movement towards a place)
- Suomessa = in Finland (being inside a place)
With matka (trip, journey), Finnish normally uses the illative to express the destination:
- matka Suomeen = a trip to Finland
- matka Italiaan = a trip to Italy
- matka Pariisiin = a trip to Paris
So Tuleva matka Suomeen literally has the structure “coming trip (to-Finland).”
Tuleva is the present active participle of the verb tulla (to come) and works here as an adjective meaning “coming, upcoming, future.”
Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense is usually used for both present and future:
- Matka Suomeen motivoi minua.
= The trip to Finland motivates / will motivate me.
Adding tuleva makes the “future” nature of the trip very explicit:
- tuleva matka Suomeen
= the upcoming trip to Finland
So tuleva is a way to emphasize that this trip has not happened yet; it is in the future.
Minua is the partitive form of minä (I).
Pronoun forms:
- minä = I (nominative)
- minut = me (accusative)
- minua = me (partitive)
With many verbs that express feelings, mental states or influences, Finnish tends to use the partitive for the person affected:
- Se kiinnostaa minua. = It interests me.
- Se ärsyttää minua. = It annoys me.
- Se motivoi minua. = It motivates me.
Using minut (Se motivoi minut…) would sound like “It motivates me so that I end up (completely) doing something,” i.e. focusing on a definite result. That is possible but much less common and feels more like “pushes me into action.”
In everyday Finnish, the natural pattern is:
X motivoi minua tekemään Y.
X motivates me to do Y.
Opiskelemaan is the illative form of the 3rd infinitive of opiskella (to study).
Rough breakdown:
- Dictionary form: opiskella (1st infinitive)
- 3rd infinitive stem: opiskelema-
- Illative ending: -an → opiskelemaan
The 3rd infinitive in the illative (-maan / -mään) often expresses going into doing something, a goal or result:
- mennä nukkumaan = to go to sleep (to go into sleeping)
- auttaa minua oppimaan = to help me learn (to help me into learning)
- saada hänet nauramaan = to make him/her laugh (to get him/her into laughing)
In this sentence:
- motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea
≈ “motivates me to (start/keep) studying Finnish”
(literally: “motivates me into studying Finnish”)
So opiskelemaan is a kind of “to study” that emphasizes entering into / engaging in the activity.
Suomea is the partitive form of suomi (Finnish language).
With verbs like opiskella (to study), oppia (to learn), puhua (to speak), the language is very often in the partitive, especially when the action is an ongoing process or not seen as fully completed:
- Opiskelen suomea. = I study / am studying Finnish.
- Puhun suomea. = I speak Finnish.
Using nominative suomi with such verbs usually implies something like a completed, whole result:
- Opin suomen. = I learned Finnish (I mastered it).
In this sentence, the idea is “studying Finnish” as a continuing activity, not “completing” Finnish as a whole, so suomea fits naturally.
No. In Finnish, language names are written with a lowercase letter, while country and nationality names are capitalized.
- Suomi = Finland (the country, capital S)
- suomi = Finnish (the language, lowercase)
- suomalainen = Finnish person / Finnish (adjective), capital S at the start of a sentence only
So in the sentence:
- Suomeen = to Finland (country name, capital S)
- suomea = (the) Finnish (language), lowercase
This is why you see Suomeen with a capital S and suomea with a lowercase s.
Yes, you can say:
- Matka Suomeen motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea.
That is grammatically fine and very natural.
The difference is mainly in emphasis:
- Tuleva matka Suomeen…
→ highlights that the trip is upcoming, something you are looking forward to. - Matka Suomeen…
→ just “the trip to Finland”, and whether it’s in the future is left to context.
In practice, if it is clear from context that the trip has not yet happened, both versions convey essentially the same idea. Tuleva simply spells out the “upcoming” nuance.
Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense is used for both present and future situations, and context (and time expressions) tell you which one is meant.
- Huomenna sataa. = It rains / it will rain tomorrow.
- Lähden ensi viikolla. = I leave / I will leave next week.
So:
- Tuleva matka Suomeen motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea.
can naturally be understood as
“The upcoming trip to Finland will motivate me to study Finnish.”
The word tuleva and the meaning of the sentence make it clear that we are talking about a future effect, even though the verb is in the present tense form motivoi.
Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and grammatical roles are mostly shown by case endings, not position. However, word order affects emphasis and naturalness.
Neutral, clear version:
- Tuleva matka Suomeen motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea.
Other possible orders:
Minua motivoi tuleva matka Suomeen opiskelemaan suomea.
→ Emphasizes me: “As for me, it’s the upcoming trip to Finland that motivates me to study Finnish.”Tuleva matka Suomeen motivoi minua suomea opiskelemaan.
→ Grammatically possible, but sounds a bit odd; the object phrase suomea opiskelemaan is normally kept together as opiskelemaan suomea.
Some theoretically possible orders become unnatural or confusing, even if the cases are correct. As a learner, it is safest to keep to a fairly neutral S–V–(object/complements) pattern until you feel comfortable with Finnish word-order nuances.
That version with opiskella is not idiomatic Finnish in this structure. Native speakers say:
- motivoi minua opiskelemaan suomea,
not - ✗ motivoi minua opiskella suomea.
After verbs that mean causing, helping, pushing or motivating someone to do something, Finnish commonly uses the 3rd infinitive illative (-maan / -mään):
- rohkaista sinua puhumaan = to encourage you to speak
- saada hänet lähtemään = to get him/her to leave
- motivoi minua opiskelemaan = motivates me to study
So in this sentence, opiskelemaan is the natural and correct form to use.