Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minäkin kirjoitan pientä blogia, jossa harjoittelen suomen sanoja. - I also write a small blog where I practice Finnish words.

Minäkin kirjoitan… = I also write… (focus on I)
Minä kirjoitan blogiakin. = I write a blog too (among other things). (focus on blogi)

Attaching -kin to minä says that I am included in some group of people who do this (for example, after someone else has said that they write a blog).

Why do we even say Minä here? I thought Finnish often drops the pronoun.

You could say just Kirjoitan pientä blogia… and it would still be correct Finnish.

Here, Minäkin is used for emphasis:

Kirjoitan pientä blogia… = I write / am writing a small blog… (neutral)
Minäkin kirjoitan pientä blogia… = I also write a small blog… (emphasizes that the speaker is also doing this, compared to someone else)

Because the -kin needs something to attach to and the emphasis is on I, you keep the pronoun minä and attach -kin to it: Minäkin.

Why is it pientä blogia and not pieni blogi or pienen blogin?

Pientä blogia is in the partitive singular (both the adjective and the noun).

The object blogia is in the partitive because:

The action kirjoitan is ongoing / habitual, not a single completed event.
The blog is indefinite: not a specific, finished blog but a blog (that I write) as an ongoing project.

Rough comparison:

Kirjoitan pientä blogia.
Literally: I write a small blog (I run/keep a small blog – ongoing activity).
Kirjoitin pienen blogin.
Literally: I wrote a small blog (I finished creating a blog; a more completed, bounded event).

So the partitive pientä blogia fits the idea of an ongoing blog-writing activity rather than a finished object.

Why is pientä also in the partitive case?

In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in:

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

Since blogia is singular partitive, the adjective pieni must also be singular partitive: pientä.

Patterns:

Nominative: pieni blogi (a small blog)
Partitive singular: pientä blogia (some / a small blog – as object here)
Genitive singular: pienen blogin

So pientä blogia is just normal case agreement.

Why is blogia in the partitive and not blogin?

Finnish object case depends on the aspect and meaning of the verb phrase.

Partitive object (here: blogia) is used for:

ongoing or repeated activities
incomplete, unbounded events
indefinite amounts

Total object (like blogin) suggests a completed event or a clearly bounded result.

So:

Kirjoitan blogia.
I write / am writing a blog (as an activity; I run a blog).
Kirjoitin blogin.
I wrote a (whole) blog (sounds like a finished, one-off thing you produced).

In this sentence, the idea is I keep a small blog, so the partitive is natural.

What exactly does jossa mean, and why do we use it here?

Jossa is a relative pronoun meaning roughly in which.

It is formed from:

joka (relative pronoun which / that / who)
plus the inessive ending -ssa (in)

So jossa = in which.

In the sentence:

pientä blogia, jossa harjoittelen suomen sanoja
= a small blog, in which I practice Finnish words

Jossa refers back to blogia: the blog is the place in which the practicing happens.

What is the difference between jossa and missä?

Missä is an interrogative word: where?
Jossa is a relative word: in which / where (referring to something mentioned before).

Compare:

Missä harjoittelet suomea?
Where do you practise Finnish? (a question)
Kirjoitan blogia, jossa harjoittelen suomea.
I write a blog in which I practise Finnish.

In spoken Finnish, many people do use missä also as a relative (blogi, missä harjoittelen…), but in standard written Finnish, jossa is preferred here.

Why is the verb harjoittelen used and not harjoitan?

Finnish has two related verbs:

harjoitella – to practise (for oneself), to train (intransitive or with partitive object)
harjoittaa – to exercise, to operate, to carry on (more transitive, more formal)

In this context, harjoitella is the normal verb for practicing a skill (like vocabulary, a language, an instrument).

harjoittelen suomen sanoja = I practise Finnish words

Harjoittaa would sound odd and too formal or business-like here; you might hear it in contexts like:

harjoittaa liiketoimintaa = to conduct business
harjoittaa uskontoa = to practise a religion (more formal register)

Why do we say suomen sanoja and not suomi sanoja or suomea sanoja?

Suomen sanoja literally means Finnish’s words / words of Finnish.

suomi is the base form Finnish (language / Finland)
suomen is the genitive: of Finnish

So:

suomen sanat = the words of Finnish / Finnish words (nominative plural)
suomen sanoja = (some) Finnish words (partitive plural)

Suomen here modifies sanoja: they are words of the Finnish language, not just any words.

Forms like suomi sanoja or suomea sanoja are not grammatical in this structure.

Why is sanoja in the partitive plural instead of sanat?

Sanoja is the partitive plural of sana (word).

We use the partitive plural here because:

It refers to an indefinite amount: some words, not all words.
After verbs like harjoitella, the object is often in the partitive when the action is ongoing / incomplete / about practising in general.

Compare:

Harjoittelen suomen sanoja.
I practise (some) Finnish words. (general, ongoing activity)
Osaan kaikki suomen sanat.
I know all the Finnish words. (sanat = a complete, definite set)

So sanoja expresses some amount / type of words, not a complete, finite list.

Could we use a different word order, like Kirjoitan minäkin pientä blogia or Minä kirjoitan myös pientä blogia?

Yes, both are possible, with slightly different nuances:

Kirjoitan minäkin pientä blogia.
- Still means I also write a small blog, but the inversion adds a bit of emphasis or a conversational, maybe slightly dramatic tone.
- Sounds like: I, too, write a small blog, with a little stress on minäkin.
Minä kirjoitan myös pientä blogia.
- Uses myös instead of -kin.
- More neutral, very common in writing.
- Emphasis is a bit more on the action (I also write a small blog, in addition to something else you do).

Minäkin kirjoitan… with -kin is very natural in spoken and written Finnish when reacting to someone else’s similar statement (like saying me too).

Does pientä blogia necessarily mean that the blog is small in size, or can it be more like a little blog modestly?

It can be both:

Literally, pieni blogi means a small blog (e.g., few readers, limited content).
In real use, pieni / pientä blogia is often a modest way to describe your own blog:
- a little blog of mine
- just a small blog

So Minäkin kirjoitan pientä blogia… can feel modest and casual: I also have this little blog where I practise Finnish words.

Can kirjoitan here mean both I write and I am writing, like in English?

Yes. Finnish present tense covers both:

habitual / repeated action
right now / ongoing action

So kirjoitan pientä blogia can mean:

I write a small blog (I run/maintain a blog as a regular activity)
I am writing a small blog (focusing on the current period of time)

Usually, context makes it clear, and both readings are natural here.