Learn Hardcore Finnish: Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaina. - The basketball team practices in the hall on Sunday.

koripallo = basketball (literally kori = basket + pallo = ball)
joukkue = team (especially a sports team)
koripallojoukkue = basketball team (a compound noun)
harjoittelee = (he/she/it) practices / is practicing
halli = hall, sports hall, indoor arena
hallissa = in the hall (halli
- -ssa inessive case, “in”)
sunnuntai = Sunday
sunnuntaina = on Sunday (sunnuntai
- -na essive case, used for “on [a day]”)

So the whole sentence is: Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaina ≈ “The basketball team practices in the hall on Sunday.”

Why is koripallojoukkue written as one long word instead of koripallo joukkue?

Finnish very often combines nouns into a single compound word:

koripallo (basketball) + joukkue (team)
→ koripallojoukkue (basketball team)

Writing it as two separate words (koripallo joukkue) would look wrong to Finns; it would feel like you just placed two unrelated nouns next to each other.

Other examples:

jalkapallo (football/soccer) + joukkue → jalkapallojoukkue (football team)
työ (work) + huone (room) → työhuone (office, study)

So if English would use “X team” as a fixed concept, Finnish will almost always make a single compound word.

Why is there no word for the in Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee…?

Finnish does not have articles (no a/an and no the).

Whether you translate koripallojoukkue as:

a basketball team
the basketball team

depends entirely on context, not on any word in Finnish. The bare noun can correspond to either.

Examples:

Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaina.
→ “The basketball team practices in the hall on Sunday.” (a specific team, usually clear from context)
Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee usein hallissa.
→ “A basketball team often practices in a hall.” (generic statement)

So the learner has to infer definiteness from context or add extra words like eräs (a certain) if really needed.

Why is the verb harjoittelee singular even though koripallojoukkue refers to many people?

In Finnish, the verb agrees with the grammatical number of the subject, not with the logical idea of “many people”.

koripallojoukkue is grammatically singular (one team)
→ verb must be 3rd person singular: harjoittelee

You do not say:

✗ Koripallojoukkue harjoittelevat…

That would be ungrammatical, even though in English we might think of “the team” as plural in meaning.

If you use an explicitly plural subject, then the verb becomes plural:

Pelaajat harjoittelevat hallissa sunnuntaina.
“The players practice in the hall on Sunday.”

Here pelaajat (players) is plural, so the verb is harjoittelevat.

What is the basic dictionary form of harjoittelee, and how is it conjugated?

The dictionary (infinitive) form is harjoitella = “to practice”.

Present tense conjugation:

minä harjoittelen – I practice
sinä harjoittelet – you practice
hän harjoittelee – he/she practices
me harjoittelemme – we practice
te harjoittelette – you (pl.) practice
he harjoittelevat – they practice

So in the sentence:

Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee…
the subject is 3rd person singular → harjoittelee.

What is the difference between harjoitella and harjoittaa?

Both come from a similar root, but they’re used differently:

harjoitella = to practice (to train oneself, to rehearse)
- Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee. – “The basketball team is practicing.”
- Harjoittelen suomea. – “I’m practicing Finnish.”
harjoittaa = to carry on / to exercise / to engage in (more formal or abstract)
- harjoittaa liiketoimintaa – to conduct business
- harjoittaa ammattia – to practice a profession

For sports training or language practice, harjoitella is the normal verb.

What does the ending -ssa in hallissa mean?

-ssa/-ssä is the inessive case, and its core meaning is “in, inside”.

halli = hall
hallissa = in the hall

More examples:

koulussa – in the school (koulu = school)
kaupassa – in the store, at the shop (kauppa = shop)
talossa – in the house (talo = house)

So hallissa corresponds to English “in the hall”, but Finnish expresses this with a case ending instead of a separate preposition.

Why is it hallissa and not something like hallilla?

Finnish has several different local cases, each with a slightly different basic meaning:

-ssa/-ssä (inessive): in (inside something)
-sta/-stä (elative): out of / from inside
-lla/-llä (adessive): on / at (surface or general vicinity)
-lta/-ltä (ablative): off / from a surface or location
-an/-en/-on… (illative): into (movement to the inside)

For an indoor sports hall where the team is physically inside, hallissa (in the hall) is natural.

You might use hallilla (on/at the hall) when you mean being at the surroundings of a hall, e.g.:

Tapaamme hallilla. – “We’ll meet at the hall (by the hall/at its location).”

But for actual practice taking place inside: harjoittelee hallissa.

What case is sunnuntaina, and why does it mean “on Sunday”?

sunnuntaina is in the essive case (-na/-nä).

For days of the week, Finnish normally uses the essive to express “on [that day]”:

maanantai → maanantaina – on Monday
tiistai → tiistaina – on Tuesday
sunnuntai → sunnuntaina – on Sunday

The essive has several uses (temporary state, role, etc.), but with time expressions, one of its standard roles is to mark “during/on that day or time”. So sunnuntaina = “on Sunday.”

Could I say sunnuntaina hallissa instead of hallissa sunnuntaina? Does word order matter here?

Both are grammatically correct:

Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaina.
Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee sunnuntaina hallissa.

Finnish word order is relatively flexible. Differences mostly concern emphasis and what is already known vs. new information.

Very loosely:

hallissa sunnuntaina – slightly more neutral if you are just listing where and when.
sunnuntaina hallissa – could put a bit more emphasis on “on Sunday” as the contrastive or important bit.

In everyday speech, both orders sound natural; context and intonation typically carry the nuance.

How do you pronounce koripallojoukkue? It looks long and confusing.

Break it into smaller pieces:

ko-ri-pal-lo-jouk-kue

Syllables: ko-ri-pal-lo-jouk-kue
Word stress: always on the first syllable in Finnish → KO-ri-pal-lo-jouk-kue

Some tips:

ll and kk are long consonants; hold them a bit longer than a single consonant:
- pal-lo (not palo)
- jouk-kue (not joukue)
jouk- is like yowk in English (as in “yolk”, but shorter), followed by -kue (roughly kweh).

If you say it steadily and evenly, it will sound more Finnish than if you stress different syllables as in English.

Why can harjoittelee be translated as both “practices” and “is practicing”? There is only one form in Finnish.

Finnish has no separate present progressive form like English is practicing.

The simple present in Finnish (harjoittelee) can correspond to several English forms, depending on context:

Habitual:
- Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa joka sunnuntai.
  → “The basketball team practices in the hall every Sunday.”
Currently ongoing or scheduled:
- Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaina.
  → “The basketball team is practicing in the hall on Sunday.” (a scheduled future event)

So you must choose between practices and is practicing in English by reading the context. Finnish just uses the present tense.

How would I say “The basketball team does not practice in the hall on Sunday”?

Use the negative verb ei plus the base form of the main verb (without personal ending):

Koripallojoukkue ei harjoittele hallissa sunnuntaina.

Structure:

ei = negative verb (3rd person here, but 3rd person has no visible ending)
harjoittele = negative form of harjoittelee (drop -e
- personal ending)

More examples:

Koripallojoukkue ei harjoittele tänään. – The basketball team is not practicing today.
Pelaajat eivät harjoittele hallissa. – The players do not practice in the hall.

Notice that for plural he (they), the negative verb changes: eivät harjoittele.

How would I say “The basketball team practices in the hall every Sunday” instead of just “on Sunday”?

Use the plural-like adverbial form of the weekday:

sunnuntai → sunnuntaisin = on Sundays / every Sunday

Then:

Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa sunnuntaisin.
= “The basketball team practices in the hall every Sunday.”

Compare:

sunnuntaina – on Sunday (one specific Sunday, or possibly a particular coming Sunday)
sunnuntaisin – on Sundays (regularly, habitually)

Could you leave out hallissa or sunnuntaina? How flexible is what you can omit?

Yes, you can omit elements if they are clear from context:

Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee sunnuntaina.
– “The basketball team practices on Sunday.” (location not mentioned)
Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee hallissa.
– “The basketball team practices in the hall.” (time not mentioned)
Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee.
– “The basketball team is practicing.” (both time and place left out)

Finnish does not require you to explicitly mention time or place; you add them only when they are relevant or not already known. The core sentence Koripallojoukkue harjoittelee is complete by itself.