Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa, mutta puolisoni rakastaa kanaa ja riisiä. - I prefer to eat vegetarian food, but my spouse loves chicken and rice.

It can also sound slightly more “full” or explicit, like in written examples or when contrasting two people’s preferences, as in this sentence. But grammatically, Minä is optional here.

What exactly does mieluummin mean, and why is that form used?

Mieluummin means rather / preferably / more willingly. It’s the comparative form of the adverb mielellään (willingly, with pleasure).

mielellään = gladly, willingly
mieluummin = more gladly, rather (one option over another)
mieluiten = most gladly, preferably (superlative)

In this sentence:

Minä syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa
= I would rather eat vegetarian food / I prefer to eat vegetarian food.

You use mieluummin when comparing preferences, even if the other option is only implied:

Syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa (kuin lihaa).
I’d rather eat vegetarian food (than meat).

Why is it kasvisruokaa and not kasvisruoka?

Kasvisruokaa is in the partitive case. Several reasons:

Unspecified amount / “some”
With eating and drinking, Finnish usually uses the partitive when you mean some amount of something, not a specific, countable portion.
- Syön kasvisruokaa.
  = I eat (some) vegetarian food / I eat vegetarian food (in general).
General preference
When talking about something in general (type of food) rather than a single item or portion, the partitive is common.

If you said:

Syön kasvisruoka.

it would be ungrammatical in standard Finnish. You could have nominative, but only with something like:

Syön kasvisruoan.
= I eat the vegetarian dish (a specific one, e.g. the one on my plate).

So kasvisruokaa here expresses “vegetarian food in general / as a kind of food,” not one specific dish.

What exactly is kasvisruoka? Is it just “vegetables”?

Kasvisruoka is a compound:

kasvis = vegetable
ruoka = food

Together, kasvisruoka means vegetarian food, vegetarian dishes/meal(s) – food made from vegetables and other non-meat ingredients. It does not mean “just vegetables” on their own.

Some related words:

kasvissyöjä = vegetarian (person)
kasvissyönti = vegetarianism
kasviksia = vegetables (partitive plural of kasvis)

So in the sentence, kasvisruokaa is “vegetarian food,” not just “veggies.”

What does puolisoni mean, and how is it formed?

Puolisoni means my spouse.

Structure:

puoliso = spouse, partner (gender-neutral)
-ni = possessive suffix meaning my

So:

puoliso = spouse
puolisoni = my spouse
puolisosi = your (sg) spouse
puolisonsa = his/her/their spouse (context decides)

You can also say:

minun puolisoni = my spouse

Both puolisoni and minun puolisoni are grammatically correct. Often in everyday speech people prefer minun puoliso (dropping the -ni), but puolisoni sounds neat and a bit more written or careful.

Is there any difference between puolisoni and minun puolisoni?

Both mean my spouse, but there are small stylistic differences:

puolisoni:
- Uses only the possessive suffix -ni.
- Typical in more formal, written, or “bookish” style.
- Compact and elegant in writing.
minun puolisoni:
- Uses minun
  - possessive suffix -ni.
- Totally correct, slightly more emphatic for my.
- Common in spoken language (though many people in speech actually say mun puoliso and drop -ni).

In casual speech you often hear:

mun puoliso / mun mies / mun vaimo (no -ni)

In standard written Finnish, puolisoni or minun puolisoni are both fine.

Why are kanaa and riisiä in the partitive case?

Kanaa and riisiä are the partitive singular of kana (chicken) and riisi (rice).

They are in the partitive because:

Unspecified quantity / “some”
Like with kasvisruokaa, when eating an indefinite amount:
- syön kanaa = I eat chicken (some, in general)
- syön riisiä = I eat rice (some, in general)
Objects of “rakastaa”
The verb rakastaa (to love) normally takes its object in the partitive:
- rakastan sinua = I love you
- rakastan musiikkia = I love music
- rakastaa kanaa ja riisiä = (he/she) loves chicken and rice

Because rakastaa requires a partitive object, both kanaa and riisiä appear in partitive here.

Is riisiä here singular or plural? How can I tell?

Formally, riisiä is partitive singular of riisi.

riisi = one grain of rice (in theory) / rice (as a word)
riisiä = some rice (mass, uncountable in practice)
riisejä = some rices (partitive plural; rarely used; e.g. different types)

In real life, riisiä is used like English rice as a mass noun:

Syön riisiä. = I eat rice.

So in this sentence, riisiä is grammatically singular, but semantically it acts like uncountable “rice.” The plural would be very uncommon here.

Could you also say Minä syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa, mutta puolisoni pitää kanasta ja riisistä?

Yes, that’s grammatical, but the nuance changes:

rakastaa = to love (strong, emotional, very positive)
pitää jostakin = to like something

So:

puolisoni rakastaa kanaa ja riisiä
= my spouse loves chicken and rice (very strong preference)
puolisoni pitää kanasta ja riisistä
= my spouse likes chicken and rice

Also notice the case change with pitää:

pitää jostakin → the thing you like is in the elative (-sta / -stä):
- pitää kanasta
- pitää riisistä

So yes, you can use pitää instead of rakastaa, but you must change the case (kanasta, riisistä), and the meaning becomes softer.

Could I reorder the sentence as Mieluummin syön kasvisruokaa, mutta puolisoni rakastaa kanaa ja riisiä?

Yes, that’s fine and natural.

Minä syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa…
Mieluummin syön kasvisruokaa…

Both are correct. The version starting with Mieluummin puts a bit more emphasis on the preference itself:

Mieluummin syön kasvisruokaa
= Rather / preferably, I eat vegetarian food.

Word order in Finnish is quite flexible; changes mainly affect emphasis and information flow, not grammatical correctness.

Why is the conjunction mutta used here instead of vaan? Could I say …kasvisruokaa, vaan puolisoni…?

Mutta and vaan both translate as but, but they are used differently:

mutta = but, however (general contrast)
vaan = but rather, but instead (after a negation; corrects or replaces something)

Vaan is normally used after ei (not):

En syö lihaa, vaan kasvisruokaa.
= I don’t eat meat, but (instead) vegetarian food.

In your sentence there is no negation, just a contrast:

I prefer vegetarian food, but my spouse loves chicken and rice.

So mutta is correct. Using vaan here would sound wrong in standard Finnish.

Why is syön used and not an explicit “prefer” verb like suosia or pitää enemmän?

Finnish often expresses preference with mieluummin + a normal action verb, instead of a separate verb “prefer”:

Syön mieluummin kasvisruokaa.
= I prefer to eat vegetarian food / I’d rather eat vegetarian food.

Alternatives:

Suosin kasvisruokaa. = I favor / prefer vegetarian food.
Pidän enemmän kasvisruoasta. = I like vegetarian food more.

All are correct, but syön mieluummin is very natural and common. It keeps the sentence closer to everyday speech and highlights the act of eating rather than an abstract preference.