Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla. - This café is especially peaceful in the evening.

the café is physically close to the speaker (e.g. “this café we’re in / standing in front of”)
or the speaker is deliberately pointing it out as a specific one among others.

If you said:

Se kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
→ more like “that café (we both know which one) is especially quiet in the evening”, not necessarily near the speaker.
Tuo kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
→ “that café over there is especially quiet in the evening”, drawing attention to distance or pointing.

So tämä is the natural choice when you really mean “this particular café here” rather than just “that one we’ve been talking about”.

Why is ilta in the form illalla, and what does the ending -lla mean?

Illalla is the adessive singular form of ilta (evening).

ilta (basic form) → illalla (in the evening / this evening / at nightfall)

The ending -lla / -llä is the adessive case. Literally it often means “on” or “at” (location), but it is also used very commonly for time expressions, roughly meaning “in/at (that time)”.

Some similar time expressions:

päivällä – in the daytime
yöllä – at night
talvella – in (the) winter
keväällä – in (the) spring

So illalla is the standard way to say “in the evening” (usually understood as this evening or evenings in a specific time frame, depending on context).

What is the difference between illalla and iltaisin?

Both relate to “evening”, but they differ in meaning:

illalla
→ in the evening (a specific evening, or the evenings of a specific period)
Example: Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
Often understood as “in the evenings (typically)” but still tied to concrete evenings.
iltaisin
→ in the evenings / evenings in general, as a habit
It emphasises regularity or habitual action.

Compare:

Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
→ This café is especially quiet in the evening (for example today, or typically when evening comes).
Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen iltaisin.
→ This café is especially quiet in the evenings (generally, as a rule).

Both are grammatical with slightly different focus: illalla can be more situation-bound; iltaisin is more clearly habitual.

Why is it erityisen rauhallinen, not erityinen rauhallinen or erityisesti rauhallinen?

There are three related forms here:

erityinen – an adjective: special, particular
erityisen – genitive form, often used as an intensifier meaning especially / particularly
erityisesti – an adverb: especially, particularly (more formal/literal)

In this sentence:

erityisen works as a degree word (intensifier) modifying rauhallinen, like “especially quiet”.
rauhallinen is the main descriptive adjective for kahvila.

So:

erityisen rauhallinen ≈ especially quiet / particularly peaceful

Why not the others?

erityinen rauhallinen
This would sound wrong in this position. Erityinen is a normal adjective and would want to directly modify a noun:
- erityinen kahvila = a special café
  You would not normally stack erityinen on rauhallinen like that.
erityisesti rauhallinen
This is possible, but has a more formal / written tone and a slightly different feel. Erityisen rauhallinen is the most everyday, natural way to say “especially quiet” here.

In modern spoken and written Finnish, erityisen + adjective is a very common pattern for “especially / particularly + adjective”.

How does rau hallinen work grammatically here? Why is it in this form?

Rauhallinen is an adjective meaning calm, peaceful, quiet.

In Finnish, adjectives normally agree with the noun they describe in:

number (singular/plural)
case (nominative, partitive, etc.)

In this sentence:

kahvila is singular, nominative: kahvila
so the predicative adjective is also singular, nominative: rau hallinen

Structure:

Tämä kahvila (subject, nominative singular)
on (verb olla, 3rd person singular)
erityisen rauhallinen (predicative adjective phrase describing the subject)
illalla (adverbial of time)

If you change the subject, rauhallinen changes too:

Nämä kahvilat ovat erityisen rauhallisia illalla.
→ rauhallisia (partitive plural), agreeing with kahvilat in number and case.

So rauhallinen is in nominative singular here because it describes a singular nominative subject (kahvila) with the verb olla.

Could you say On erityisen rauhallista illalla instead? What would be the difference?

Yes, On erityisen rauhallista illalla. is also correct, but the structure and meaning are a bit different.

Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
- There is an explicit subject: Tämä kahvila.
- You are describing a specific café:
  → This café is especially quiet in the evening.
On erityisen rauhallista illalla.
- There is no explicit subject.
- rauhallista is in the partitive, and the sentence is more like an impersonal statement:
  → It is especially quiet in the evening. / Things are especially quiet in the evening.
  (no specific place or “it” identified)

If you try to combine them as:

?Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallista illalla.

this is generally considered non‑standard or at least unnatural in careful Finnish. With a clear, countable subject (Tämä kahvila), the predicative is normally nominative (rau hallinen).

So:

use …on erityisen rauhallinen… when you mention the café explicitly;
use On erityisen rauhallista… when you make a general comment without naming the subject.

What is the difference between rauhallinen and hiljainen? Both seem to mean “quiet”.

They overlap but are not identical:

hiljainen
- core meaning: quiet, silent, not noisy
- focuses on low volume / lack of sound
- hiljainen kahvila = a café where there is little noise, people talk quietly, no loud music
rauhallinen
- core meaning: peaceful, calm, unhurried, relaxed
- includes not just sound level but also atmosphere and pace
- rauhallinen kahvila = a café that feels calm, not hectic, maybe not crowded; noise is usually low, but the word also suggests a relaxed mood

In Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla., rauhallinen gives the idea of a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere in the evening, not just “not loud”.

Can I change the word order to Illalla tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Illalla tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen.

This is perfectly grammatical. The basic meaning is the same, but the focus shifts slightly:

Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla.
→ neutral word order; information is balanced; slight focus on the café.
Illalla tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen.
→ the time expression Illalla is placed first, so you emphasise the time:
“In the evening, this café is especially quiet (as opposed to other times).”

Finnish allows fairly flexible word order, but the element at the beginning of the sentence is often emphasised or treated as the topic.

Could I leave out on and just say Tämä kahvila erityisen rauhallinen illalla?

In standard Finnish, no. You need the verb olla (on) in this kind of sentence:

Tämä kahvila on erityisen rauhallinen illalla. ✅

Leaving out on:

Tämä kahvila erityisen rauhallinen illalla. ❌ (incorrect in normal Finnish)

Omitting on is possible only in some very special contexts, such as:

headlines: Kahvila erityisen rauhallinen illalla
very telegraphic notes or slogans

But in normal speech and writing, always include on (or the appropriate form of olla) in such copular sentences.