Learn Hardcore Finnish: Siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan välille. - I move the table between the sofa and the window.

In Finnish, a complete, bounded object of a verb like siirtää is usually in this -n form in the singular. It corresponds to “the whole table” being affected by the action.

So:

Siirrän pöydän … = I move the (whole) table to its destination (a complete event).
The -n marks that the object is treated as a whole, and that the action is seen as completed or goal-oriented, not just ongoing activity.

This is why we don’t use the bare pöytä here; we want a definite, whole object, and the verb is clearly goal-directed (moving it to a specific place).

What is the difference between pöydän and pöytää as objects of siirrän?

Both are possible, but they give a different aspectual feeling:

Siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan välille.
– I move the whole table to that place; the action is viewed as a single, completed event with a clear endpoint.
Siirrän pöytää sohvan ja ikkunan väliin/välille.
– I’m (in the process of) moving the table, without focusing on completion. This can sound like:
- you’re just shifting it around,
- or describing the activity itself (maybe you’ll stop partway, or you’re just adjusting its position).

So:

pöydän (genitive/“accusative”) = total object, goal reached.
pöytää (partitive) = partial/ongoing action, no guaranteed endpoint.

Why are sohvan and ikkunan in that -n form as well?

Sohvan and ikkunan are in the genitive case. When you say “between X and Y” with väli- in Finnish, both X and Y go into the genitive:

sohvan ja ikkunan väli- = literally “the space of the sofa and of the window”.

The pattern is:

X:n ja Y:n väliin / välille / välissä …
– between X and Y (into/onto/in between them, etc.)

So, in your sentence:

sohvan ja ikkunan välille = to the space between the sofa and the window
sohvan = genitive of sohva
ikkunan = genitive of ikkuna

The postposition (välille) carries the local case ending; the nouns before it are simply in genitive to link them to that postposition.

What exactly is välille grammatically, and how does it work in this sentence?

Välille is the allative case (-lle) of the noun väli (meaning “space, gap, interval”), used here as a postposition.

Base noun: väli
Allative singular: välille = “onto/to the (between-)space”

As a postposition, it comes after the nouns it relates to:

sohvan ja ikkunan välille
= to the space between the sofa and the window

Function in the sentence:

The whole phrase sohvan ja ikkunan välille is a directional place adverbial, telling where to you move the table.
The local case ending -lle is only on välille; it applies to the entire phrase, not to sohvan or ikkunan individually.

So grammatically, it’s:

siirrän (verb)
pöydän (object)
sohvan ja ikkunan välille (postpositional phrase of destination)

What is the difference between väliin and välille? Could we say väliin here instead?

Both väliin and välille come from väli, but use different local case series:

väliin = illative (into the space)
välille = allative (onto/to the space/area)

In practice:

väliin often emphasizes going into a gap:
- Asetan kirjan kahden muun kirjan väliin.
  – I put the book into the space between the other two.
välille often emphasizes towards/onto an area between things, and is very common with more abstract “between” relations:
- Tehdään sopimus Suomen ja Ruotsin välille.
  – Let’s make an agreement between Finland and Sweden.

For a physical table on the floor between a sofa and a window, many speakers would naturally say:

Siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan väliin.

Your version with välille is also understandable and used; the difference is subtle and not something learners need to worry deeply about. If you want the most neutral choice for literally placing something into the gap, väliin is slightly more typical, but both exist.

Why do we say siirrän without minä? Don’t we need a subject pronoun?

In Finnish, the person and number of the subject are shown by the verb ending, so a subject pronoun is usually optional.

siirrän = 1st person singular (“I move”, “I am moving”, “I will move”)
- stem siirrä-
  - ending -n (“I”)

So:

Siirrän pöydän … = I move the table …
Minä siirrän pöydän … is also correct but adds emphasis, a bit like:
- “I (as opposed to someone else) will move the table…”

In normal, neutral statements, Finnish often omits the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action.

Is this present or future tense? How do we know if it means “I move” or “I will move”?

Siirrän is in the present tense, but Finnish uses the present tense for both present and future situations.

So:

Siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan välille.
- can mean “I am moving the table … (now)”,
- or “I will move the table … (later / at some point)”.

The exact time reference comes from context and possibly time words:

Huomenna siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan väliin.
– Tomorrow I will move the table between the sofa and the window.

Finnish has no separate future tense form; the simple present covers both, supported by context.

Could the word order be different, like putting pöydän at the beginning?

Yes. Finnish word order is quite flexible. The neutral order here is:

Siirrän pöydän sohvan ja ikkunan välille.
(verb – object – place adverbial)

You can change the order to emphasize different parts:

Pöydän siirrän sohvan ja ikkunan välille.
– Emphasis on pöydän: “The table (as opposed to something else) I’m moving between the sofa and the window.”
Siirrän sohvan ja ikkunan välille pöydän.
– Grammatically possible, but sounds less natural in neutral speech; it puts heavy stress on pöydän at the end.

Rules of thumb:

For a neutral, everyday sentence, keep:
- subject (if expressed) + verb + object + place/time.
Move elements to the front for contrast or emphasis.

Why does pöytä become pöydän with d, while sohva → sohvan and ikkuna → ikkunan just add -n?

This is due to consonant gradation and the way the stem of pöytä behaves.

Nominative: pöytä
Genitive/“accusative” stem: pöydä- → pöydän

Here, t changes to d between vowels when the word is inflected. This is a regular pattern in many Finnish words:

pata → padan
pöytä → pöydän

By contrast, sohva and ikkuna do not undergo consonant gradation in the same way:

sohva → sohvan
ikkuna → ikkunan

So the steps are:

pöytä (dictionary form)
stem in many forms = pöydä-
- -n for genitive/accusative → pöydän

This t → d alternation is one common pattern you gradually learn by encountering more examples.

What is the intransitive counterpart of siirrän (“I move something”)?

The verb siirtää is transitive – it always moves something:

Siirrän pöydän.
– I move the table.

The corresponding intransitive verb (where the subject itself moves) is siirtyä:

Pöytä siirtyy lähemmäs ikkunaa.
– The table moves closer to the window.
Siirryn sohvan ja ikkunan väliin.
– I move (myself) between the sofa and the window.

So:

siirtää = to move something (takes an object: pöydän)
siirtyä = to move / shift oneself or to move without explicit mover (no direct object)