Learn Hardcore Finnish: Aamulla katson itseäni peilistä ja hymyilen, vaikka kasvot ovat vielä väsyneet. - In the morning I look at myself in the mirror and smile, even though my face is still tired.

So Aamulla katson… literally means In the morning I look… or In the mornings I look… (habitually). Just aamu katson would be ungrammatical here: the time needs a case ending.

2. Why is it katson itseäni and not katson itseni?

Two things are going on: the verb katsoa and the form of itse.

katsoa
- object
  When katsoa means to look at, its object is usually in the partitive case:
- katson sinua – I look at you
- katson televisiota – I watch TV
So “I look at myself” needs itse in the partitive: itseä.
itseäni vs. itseni
- itseäni = itseä (partitive) + -ni (my) → myself as a partitive object
- itseni is a different case (genitive/accusative), used with verbs that take a total object, e.g.:
  - löydän itseni – I find myself
  - näen itseni – I see myself

With katsoa in the meaning look at, Finnish expects the partitive object, so katson itseäni is correct. Katson itseni would sound wrong or at least very odd.

3. Why does Finnish say peilistä (“from the mirror”) when English says “in the mirror”?

Peilistä is the elative case (-sta/-stä), which literally means “from inside / out of”. But in Finnish, it is also commonly used for the source of an image or sound:

katson itseäni peilistä – I look at myself from the mirror (= in the mirror)
näen hänet ikkunasta – I see him/her from the window
kuulen sen radiosta – I hear it from the radio

So the idea is: the image of me comes from the mirror.

You can also see:

katson peiliin – I look into the mirror (direction of gaze)

But for “I look at myself in the mirror”, katson itseäni peilistä is the natural phrasing.

4. Why is there no minä? Why just katson and hymyilen?

The personal ending on the verb already shows the subject:

katso-n – I look
hymyile-n – I smile

Because the subject is clear from the ending -n, Finnish normally drops the pronoun when it’s not needed for emphasis.

You would use minä when you want to stress I:

Minä katson itseäni peilistä, mutta sinä et.
I look at myself in the mirror, but you don’t.

So in neutral sentences, minä is usually omitted: Katson, hymyilen…

5. What tense are katson and hymyilen, and can this describe a habitual action?

Both katson and hymyilen are in the present tense.

Finnish present tense is used for:

actions happening right now
habitual actions (things you do regularly)
many future actions (when time is clear from context)

Here, with Aamulla, the present naturally reads as habitual:

Aamulla katson… ja hymyilen…
→ In the mornings I look… and smile…

Finnish doesn’t have a separate “I am smiling” form or a separate will-future; the simple present covers these meanings with help from context.

6. What does vaikka do here, and why is ovat in a normal present tense?

Vaikka is a subordinating conjunction meaning although / even though (and sometimes even if, depending on context).

In this sentence:

…, vaikka kasvot ovat vielä väsyneet.
→ …, although (my) face is still tired.

The verb after vaikka is in a normal tense and mood – there’s no special “subjunctive” form here. You just choose the tense that matches reality:

Lähden, vaikka sataa. – I’ll go, although it’s raining.
Lähdin, vaikka satoi. – I went, although it rained.

So ovat is present tense because it describes the current state of the face: the face is (still) tired.

7. Why is kasvot (face) plural, and why do we say kasvot ovat?

In Finnish, kasvot is grammatically plural, even when talking about one person’s face. It’s one of those nouns that are almost always used in the plural (like English scissors):

kasvot – face (literally: faces)
kasvot ovat väsyneet – the face is tired

Because kasvot is plural, the verb must also be plural:

kasvot ovat (not kasvot on in standard written Finnish)

In everyday spoken Finnish, people often say kasvot on (using singular on with a plural subject), but in standard language and writing the correct agreement is kasvot ovat.

8. Why is väsyneet in the plural, and how is it formed from väsynyt?

The adjective must agree with the noun in number and case.

noun: kasvot – plural
adjective: väsyneet – plural nominative

So we get:

Kasvot ovat väsyneet. – The face is tired.
(literally: The faces are tired.)

Formation:

dictionary form: väsynyt – tired
plural nominative: väsyneet

For adjectives ending in -nut / -nyt, the plural nominative is formed with -neet:

väsynyt → väsyneet
huolestunut (worried) → huolestuneet

So väsyneet is just the plural form matching kasvot.

9. Why is there no word for “my” before kasvot?

In Finnish, with body parts and things that clearly belong to the subject, you often don’t use a possessive pronoun:

Pesin kädet. – I washed my hands.
Suljin silmät. – I closed my eyes.

It is understood that the hands, eyes, face, etc. belong to the subject.

The same happens here:

… vaikka kasvot ovat vielä väsyneet.
→ … although my face is still tired.

If you really want to be explicit, you can say:

… vaikka kasvoni ovat vielä väsyneet. – although my face is still tired.

That uses the possessive suffix -ni (my). But in a neutral sentence like this, plain kasvot is completely natural and is understood as my face.

10. Why is there a comma before vaikka, but no comma before ja hymyilen?

Two different rules are involved:

Subordinate clauses
In Finnish, a clause introduced by words like että, koska, vaikka, kun, jos is normally separated by a comma:
- Hymyilen, vaikka kasvot ovat väsyneet.
- Vaikka kasvot ovat väsyneet, hymyilen.
So the comma before vaikka is required.
Same subject, verbs joined by ja
When two verbs share the same subject and are connected with ja (and), you normally don’t put a comma:
- Katson itseäni peilistä ja hymyilen.
  (I look at myself in the mirror and smile.)

There’s no comma before ja hymyilen because this is just one main clause with two verbs and one subject.

11. Can the word order change? For example, can I say Katson aamulla itseäni peilistä?

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and several versions are grammatical:

Aamulla katson itseäni peilistä ja hymyilen…
Katson aamulla itseäni peilistä ja hymyilen…
Katson itseäni peilistä aamulla ja hymyilen…

All are possible. The basic meaning is the same, but the focus/emphasis shifts slightly:

Starting with Aamulla puts strong emphasis on the time: In the morning (as opposed to other times), I…
Katson aamulla… feels a bit more neutral: you first state the action, then when it happens.

A common “neutral” pattern in Finnish is:

[time] – [verb] – [object] – [place]

The original sentence (Aamulla katson itseäni peilistä…) fits this very well, which is why it sounds natural.