Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea.

This café is a perfect place to study Finnish.

Breakdown of Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• suomi: Finnish
• opiskella: to study
• kahvila: the café
• paikka: the place
• täydellinen: perfect

Questions & Answers about Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea.

What does Tämä mean, and how is it different from Se?

Tämä means this (something close to the speaker).

Finnish has several common demonstratives:

• tämä = this (near the speaker)
• tuo = that (a bit further away, often visible)
• se = that / it (more general, often already known in context, not emphasising physical location)

In Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea, the speaker is probably in the café or pointing directly to it, so tämä (this café right here) feels natural.

If you said Se kahvila on täydellinen paikka..., you’d usually be talking about a café that both speakers already know about, maybe not right in front of you.

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

Kahvila means café.

It’s formed from:

• kahvi = coffee
• -la / -lä = a suffix meaning “place related to X”

So kahvi + -la → kahvila = “coffee place”, i.e. a café.

Some similar words:

• kirjasto (from kirja “book”) = library
• baari = bar (a direct loanword, no suffix here)

Why is the verb on and not something else?

On is the 3rd person singular present form of olla (to be).

Finnish:

• minä olen = I am
• sinä olet = you are
• hän on = he/she is
• se on = it is
• kahvila on = the café is

So Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka... literally = This café is a perfect place...

Why do kahvila, paikka, and täydellinen all look like their dictionary forms?

They are in the nominative case, which is the basic “dictionary form”.

Sentence structure:

• Tämä kahvila = the subject (what we are talking about)
• on = the verb “is”
• täydellinen paikka = the predicate nominative (what the subject is)

In Finnish, with the verb olla (to be), the subject and the “thing it is” are usually in the nominative:

• Tämä kahvila on täydellinen paikka.
  → “This café is a perfect place.”

Why is täydellinen placed before paikka and not after it?

In Finnish, adjectives normally come before the noun they describe:

• täydellinen paikka = a perfect place
• iso talo = a big house
• hyvä kahvila = a good café

Putting the adjective after the noun (like paikka täydellinen) is either ungrammatical or would need some special structure (e.g. tämä paikka on täydellinen = “this place is perfect”, where täydellinen is now a predicate adjective).

What does täydellinen literally mean, and how is it used?

Täydellinen means perfect or complete.

Usage:

• täydellinen paikka = a perfect place
• täydellinen hiljaisuus = perfect silence
• Täydellinen! = Perfect!

In this sentence, it works exactly like English perfect in “a perfect place to study Finnish”.

What does paikka mean, and why is it used instead of something like “room” or “area”?

Paikka most commonly means place or spot.

It can be physical or abstract:

• Istumapaikka = a seat (a place to sit)
• Tämä on hyvä paikka. = This is a good place.
• Täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea. = A perfect place to study Finnish.

You could use a more specific word (like huone = room), but paikka is broad and natural here, just like English “place”.

What form is opiskella, and why is it not conjugated?

Opiskella is the basic infinitive form of the verb to study.

Finnish often uses a structure:
[noun] + [infinitive] to mean “a place/time/way/method to do something”.

So:

• täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea
  literally: “a perfect place to study Finnish”

Other examples:

• Hyvä tapa oppia. = a good way to learn
  (often expanded as hyvä tapa oppia kieliä = a good way to learn languages)

If it were conjugated (opiskelen = I study), it would become a full clause, not a noun phrase.

Why is it opiskella suomea instead of opiskella suomi?

Suomea is the partitive form of suomi (Finnish).

In Finnish, languages are very often objects in the partitive when talking about learning/studying them, because:

• the action is typically ongoing / incomplete
• the object is seen as not fully delimited (you’re not “finishing” the entire language)

So:

• opiskella suomea = to study Finnish (in general, as an ongoing process)

Using opiskella suomi (nominative) would sound odd or overly “total” (as if completely finishing the language), and is not used in normal speech.

What exactly is the partitive case, as in suomea?

The partitive is one of the core Finnish cases. It often answers “how much / of what” and is used for:

1. Incomplete / ongoing actions
   
   • Luen kirjaa. = I am reading a book. (not finished)
2. Some / an indefinite amount
   
   • Juon kahvia. = I drink coffee / I’m drinking coffee.
3. With certain verbs, including opiskella
   
   • Opiskelen suomea. = I study Finnish.
4. After some numbers and quantifiers
   
   • paljon suomea = a lot of Finnish

So suomi → suomea follows a common i → e change before the partitive ending -a.

Is there any word for “to” in “a perfect place to study Finnish”?

No separate “to” word is used here.

Finnish expresses this “to do something” meaning by:

• using the infinitive directly after the noun:
  täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea
  = literally “a perfect place [study Finnish]”

Equivalent English structure:

• “a perfect place to study Finnish”

So the infinitive opiskella covers the function of “to study” without needing a preposition.

Could the sentence be Tämä kahvila on täydellinen opiskella suomea (without paikka)?

That would be unnatural / incorrect in standard Finnish.

You need a noun for the adjective täydellinen to describe:

• täydellinen paikka opiskella suomea = a perfect place to study Finnish
• täydellinen ympäristö opiskella suomea = a perfect environment to study Finnish

If you remove paikka, täydellinen has nothing concrete to modify, so the phrase breaks grammatically.

Could you also say Tämä kahvila on täydellinen suomen opiskeluun? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Tämä kahvila on täydellinen suomen opiskeluun.

This uses:

• suomen opiskeluun = “for studying Finnish”
  
  • suomen = genitive of suomi
  • opiskelu = studying (a noun)
  • -un (illative) = into / for (purpose)

Difference in feel:

• opiskella suomea (verb infinitive) → “to study Finnish”, a bit more direct and colloquial.
• suomen opiskeluun (noun + case) → “for the studying of Finnish”, slightly more formal / nominal.

Both are correct; the original is very natural and common.

How is the sentence pronounced, especially the ä and long vowels?

Approximate pronunciation (hyphen breaks syllables):

• Tämä → TÄ-mä
  
  • ä like a in cat, but a bit more fronted.
• kahvila → KAH-vi-la
  
  • stress always on the first syllable in Finnish.
• on → on (like English on but shorter).
• täydellinen → TÄY-del-li-nen
  
  • äy like English a in cat
    • y in yes blended quickly.
• paikka → PAIK-ka
  
  • ai like English eye.
  • kk is a long / double consonant – hold it slightly longer.
• opiskella → O-pis-kel-la
  
  • ll again a long consonant.
• suomea → SUO-me-a
  
  • uo like u in rule
    • o in or gliding together.

Primary stress is always on the first syllable of each word; secondary stress may fall on every second syllable after that, but it’s weaker.