Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä olen nyt kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa. - I am now in the café studying vocabulary.

for emphasis: Minä olen nyt kahvilassa … (= I am now in the café, as opposed to someone else), or
in very clear, beginner-friendly speech or writing.

Why is nyt placed after the verb: Minä olen nyt…? Could it be at the beginning?

Yes, nyt can move, and the meaning stays essentially the same, but the emphasis changes.

All are correct:

Minä olen nyt kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa. (neutral)
Nyt minä olen kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa. (emphasizes now)
Minä nyt olen kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa. (slight emphasis/contrast on “I now am …”)

Basic neutral word order in Finnish is often:

Subject – Verb – Time – Place – Manner – Other

So olen nyt kahvilassa… fits that pattern well.

What exactly does nyt mean here? Is it like English present continuous (“I am studying”)?

Nyt literally means now.

Finnish does not have a separate present continuous form like English. The same present tense (olen, opiskelen) can mean both:

I study (habitually)
I am studying (right now)

So Finnish uses nyt (now) or context to make the “right now” meaning clear. In this sentence, nyt helps express that you are currently in the café, in the middle of studying.

Why is it kahvilassa and not just kahvila?

Kahvilassa is inessive case, which usually means in or inside something.

kahvila = a café (basic form, nominative)
kahvilassa = in the café
kahvilaan = into the café (illative, movement toward)
kahvilasta = from the café (elative, movement out of)

In English you use a preposition (in the café); Finnish uses a case ending -ssa/-ssä.

Why do both kahvilassa and opiskelemassa end in -ssa? Do they mean the same kind of “in”?

They share the same ending -ssa/-ssä, but they are doing different jobs:

kahvilassa – inessive case of a noun (in the café).
opiskelemassa – inessive of the MA-infinitive of a verb (in the act of studying).

So:

kahvilassa answers where? → in the café
opiskelemassa answers in what activity? → in (the state of) studying

The form happens to look the same because Finnish uses -ssa/-ssä for both location and this “being in the middle of doing” construction.

What is opiskelemassa exactly? How is it different from opiskelen?

Opiskelemassa is the MA-infinitive in the inessive case. The structure olla + verb-ma/mä-ssa/ssä often means:

to be in the middle of doing something / to be somewhere doing something

Minä olen opiskelemassa. = I am (in the middle of) studying.
Minä opiskelen. = I study / I am studying (context decides; more neutral, no explicit idea of “in a place doing it right now”).

Your sentence:

Minä olen nyt kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa.

highlights that you’re located in the café, currently engaged in the activity of studying vocabulary. It has a slightly more “ongoing, situational” feel than simple opiskelen sanastoa.

Could I just say Minä opiskelen nyt kahvilassa sanastoa instead?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Minä opiskelen nyt kahvilassa sanastoa.

Differences in nuance:

Olen kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa.
- Focus on your state/location and ongoing activity: you are there and in the middle of studying.
Opiskelen nyt kahvilassa sanastoa.
- Focus more on the fact that you study, with where and when as extra information.

In many contexts, they’ll be understood almost the same. The olla + -massa construction just makes the “ongoing activity at a place” very explicit.

What does the -massa part in opiskelemassa come from?

Base verb: opiskella (to study).

To form this MA-infinitive inessive:

Take the verb stem: opiskele-
Add -ma/-mä: opiskelema-
Add -ssa/-ssä (inessive): opiskelemassa

So: opiskella → opiskelemassa = in the act of studying.

Other examples:

syödä (to eat) → syömässä (in the middle of eating)
kirjoittaa (to write) → kirjoittamassa (in the middle of writing)

Why is it sanastoa and not sanasto?

Sanastoa is the partitive case of sanasto (vocabulary).

Finnish uses the partitive in several situations; one common one is when the object is:

not seen as a completed, whole thing, or
an indefinite/unspecified amount (like a mass noun).

Here, you’re studying vocabulary in general, not one clearly delimited set that is “finished” or “completed.” So sanastoa (partitive) is natural.

Compare:

Opiskelen sanastoa. = I am studying (some) vocabulary / vocabulary in general.
Opiskelen tämän sanaston. = I will study/finish this (whole) vocabulary list. (object is a whole, definite set; here nominative/accusative-like behavior)

Can the word order of kahvilassa and opiskelemassa be changed?

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible. For example:

Minä olen nyt kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa.
Minä olen nyt opiskelemassa sanastoa kahvilassa.

Both are grammatically fine. The first one feels more natural because place (kahvilassa) is often mentioned before activity/manner (opiskelemassa sanastoa) in neutral sentences.

Changing the order usually affects emphasis or flow, not basic grammar.

Is it necessary to say nyt at all?

No, it’s optional:

Minä olen kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa.
Still perfectly good Finnish.

Without nyt, it’s slightly more neutral and less explicitly “right now”, but context can easily supply the time. Nyt just adds clear “current moment” emphasis.

Could I shorten the whole thing in a natural Finnish way?

Very natural shorter options include:

Olen nyt kahvilassa opiskelemassa sanastoa. (drop minä)
Olen kahvilassa opiskelemassa. (omit sanastoa if obvious from context)
Opiskelen nyt kahvilassa. (simpler structure, still natural)

Which you choose depends on how much you want to specify that it’s vocabulary you’re studying and how much you want to highlight the ongoing activity at a place (olla opiskelemassa) vs just the action (opiskelen).