Learn Hardcore Finnish: Suosittu blogi kerää helposti satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa. - A popular blog easily gathers hundreds of followers per month.

Definiteness is usually understood from context, word order, or by adding other words (like tämä blogi = this blog). So you don’t need a separate word for a or the here; suosittu blogi is enough.

What form is suosittu, and how does it relate to blogi?

Suosittu is an adjective meaning popular. In this sentence:

suosittu = nominative singular adjective
blogi = nominative singular noun

In Finnish, an adjective that directly modifies a noun usually agrees in case and number with that noun. Here both are nominative singular, so:

suosittu blogi = a/the popular blog

If you change the case of blogi, suosittu changes too:

suositussa blogissa = in a popular blog (inessive singular)
suosituista blogeista = from popular blogs (elative plural)

Why is blogi in the nominative case?

Blogi is the subject of the sentence; it is the thing performing the action kerää (gathers/collects). The default case for a simple subject in Finnish is the nominative.

So:

Suosittu blogi = A popular blog → subject
kerää = gathers → verb
satoja seuraajia = hundreds of followers → object
kuukaudessa = per month → adverbial (time)

Since blogi is just a regular, unmodified subject, it stays in the nominative singular form: blogi.

What form is kerää, and what is its dictionary form?

The dictionary (infinitive) form of the verb is kerätä = to gather, to collect.

Kerää is:

person: 3rd person singular
tense: present
mood: indicative

So kerää means (he/she/it) gathers / collects.

Very roughly:

minä kerään = I gather
sinä keräät = you gather
hän kerää = he/she gathers
me keräämme = we gather
te keräätte = you (pl) gather
he keräävät = they gather

The stem has a vowel change: kerä- → kerää- in the present tense for 3rd person singular.

Why is satoja seuraajia in the partitive, and what does satoja mean exactly?

Satoja seuraajia breaks down as:

sata = a hundred (cardinal number)
sataa = partitive singular of sata (also the verb sataa = it rains, but that’s different)
satoja = partitive plural of sata → hundreds (of), i.e. an indefinite number of hundreds
seuraaja = follower
seuraajaa = partitive singular
seuraajia = partitive plural

So:

satoja seuraajia literally: hundreds (of) followers, implying an indefinite, large amount.

Why partitive?

Indefinite/partial quantity
When you talk about an indefinite amount of something, especially a large or vague quantity, Finnish often uses the partitive:
- juon vettä = I drink (some) water
- kerää seuraajia = gathers (some) followers
- kerää satoja seuraajia = gathers hundreds of followers (not a fixed, exact number)
Quantifier + noun
With exact numerals:
- sata seuraajaa = exactly 100 followers (sata
  - seuraajaa partitive singular) With an indefinite “hundreds of”:
- satoja seuraajia = hundreds of followers (both in partitive plural)

So satoja seuraajia signals a large but not precisely specified number of followers.

Why is it seuraajia and not seuraajaa? What’s the difference?

Both are partitive forms of seuraaja (follower), but with different numbers:

seuraajaa = partitive singular
seuraajia = partitive plural

You use:

seuraajaa after exact numerals:
- yksi seuraaja
- kaksi seuraajaa
- kolme seuraajaa
seuraajia for plural indefinite amounts or with plural quantifiers like satoja:
- monia seuraajia = many followers
- paljon seuraajia = a lot of followers
- satoja seuraajia = hundreds of followers

Because satoja itself is plural (hundreds), the noun follows in partitive plural: seuraajia.

What’s the difference between kerää seuraajia and kerää seuraajat?

The difference is mainly about completeness and specificity of the object.

kerää seuraajia (partitive plural)
- usually indefinite, “some followers”
- the action is not seen as affecting a complete, limited set
- fits well with ongoing/habitual actions or indefinite quantities:
  - Suosittu blogi kerää seuraajia.
    = A popular blog (typically) gathers followers.
kerää seuraajat (total object, nominative or accusative plural)
- more definite and complete: “gathers the followers”
- implies a specific, whole group you have in mind
  - Hän keräsi seuraajat kokoushuoneeseen.
    = He/She gathered the followers into the meeting room.

In your sentence, we’re talking about an indefinite number of new followers per month, so partitive (seuraajia) is the natural choice.

How is helposti formed, and can I move it around in the sentence?

Helposti is an adverb meaning easily. It’s formed from the adjective:

helppo = easy
helposti = easily

The -sti ending is the typical way to form adverbs from adjectives in Finnish:

nopea → nopeasti (fast → quickly)
hidas → hitaasti (slow → slowly)
selvä → selvästi (clear → clearly)

Word order:

Natural position in your sentence:
- Suosittu blogi kerää helposti satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa.
You can move it for emphasis, but some positions sound more natural than others:
- Suosittu blogi helposti kerää satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa. (emphasis on easily)
- Helposti suosittu blogi kerää satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa. (possible, but also risks being understood as a blog that easily becomes popular, depending on context)

The safest and most neutral here is right after the verb or right before it:

Suosittu blogi kerää helposti ...
Suosittu blogi helposti kerää ... (slightly more emphatic)

What exactly is the form satoja, and how is it different from sata and sataa?

All three are forms of the numeral sata (one hundred).

sata = nominative singular → “one hundred”
- sata euroa = one hundred euros
sataa = partitive singular
- tarvitsen sataa euroa = I need a hundred euros
satoja = partitive plural → “hundreds (of)”
- satoja euroja = hundreds of euros
- satoja seuraajia = hundreds of followers

Meaning difference:

sata seuraajaa → exactly one hundred followers
sataa seuraajaa → “(a) hundred followers” in a context requiring partitive (e.g. tarvitsen sataa seuraajaa)
satoja seuraajia → hundreds of followers (plural, vague, large amount)

In your sentence, satoja is used to express an indefinite, large number rather than a precise count.

What case is kuukaudessa, and how can it mean per month?

Kuukaudessa is:

base word: kuukausi = month
stem: kuukaude- (you see this in some cases)
ending: -ssa / -ssä = inessive case (“in”)

So kuukaudessa literally means in (the) month.

Why does it mean per month?

Finnish often uses the inessive to express “within a (time) period”, which overlaps with English per:

15 euroa tunnissa = 15 euros in an hour / per hour
kerran viikossa = once in a week / per week
satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa = hundreds of followers in a month / per month

So kuukaudessa here means “within the span of a month”, which naturally translates as per month.

Why is the verb in the present tense kerää, when English might sometimes use different tenses for general truths?

Finnish present tense kerää covers:

right now actions (present progressive in English: is gathering)
habits or general truths (simple present in English: gathers)

So:

Suosittu blogi kerää helposti satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa.
= A popular blog easily gathers hundreds of followers per month.
(general tendency/habit)

If you wanted past tense, you’d say:

Suosittu blogi keräsi helposti satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa.
= A popular blog easily gathered hundreds of followers per month.

The simple present here is the standard way to express a general, typical fact in Finnish.

How would this sentence change in the plural, e.g. popular blogs instead of a popular blog?

For plural popular blogs, both the subject and the verb must agree in number:

Suositut blogit keräävät helposti satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa.

Changes:

suosittu blogi → suositut blogit
- suosittu (sg) → suositut (pl)
- blogi (sg) → blogit (pl)
kerää (3rd person singular) → keräävät (3rd person plural)

The rest of the sentence stays the same:

satoja seuraajia kuukaudessa doesn’t change.