Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella.

Now I write a few sentences every day with a pen or on the computer.

Breakdown of Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella.

• minä: I
• nyt: now
• joka päivä: every day
• -lla: on
• tietokone: the computer
• kirjoittaa: to write
• muutama: a few
• lause: the sentence
• tai: or
• -llä: with
• kynä: the pen

Questions & Answers about Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella.

Why is there no word for I in the Finnish sentence? Shouldn’t it be minä?

Finnish usually leaves out personal subject pronouns, because the verb ending already shows the person.

• kirjoitan = I write / I am writing
  
  • stem: kirjoita-
  • ending: -n = 1st person singular

So Nyt kirjoitan... automatically means Now I write... / Now I am writing....

You add minä only for emphasis or contrast:

• Minä kirjoitan, mutta sinä et. – I write, but you don’t.
• Nyt minä kirjoitan joka päivä... – Now I (of all people) write every day...

Grammatically, minä is optional here.

Why does the sentence start with Nyt and put kirjoitan second? Could we say Kirjoitan nyt joka päivä... instead?

Both orders are correct:

• Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä...
• Kirjoitan nyt joka päivä...

Finnish word order is relatively flexible. The main rule is that the finite verb (here kirjoitan) usually comes near the beginning, but many elements can precede it.

The choice affects emphasis:

• Nyt kirjoitan...
  Emphasizes now: Now (as opposed to before) I write every day...
• Kirjoitan nyt...
  More neutral, focuses slightly more on the act of writing; nyt then just specifies the time.

In everyday speech, both are very natural.

What exactly does joka päivä mean, and why is joka used instead of jokainen?

joka päivä means every day.

• joka = every, each (used before a singular noun in fixed expressions of time)
  
  • joka päivä – every day
  • joka viikko – every week
  • joka kuukausi – every month
  • joka vuosi – every year

Notice that the noun is in singular (päivä, not päivät), even though English uses plural: every day.

jokainen also means each, every, but it refers more to individual items and is less idiomatic with time expressions in this context:

• jokainen päivä is grammatically possible, but in practice it sounds stressed or stylistic, not the normal phrase for every day.
• Normal choice for “every day” is joka päivä or the adverb päivittäin (daily).

So in this sentence, joka päivä is the standard, natural way to say every day.

Why is it muutaman lauseen? Why not muutama lause or muutamia lauseita?

All three forms exist, but they’re used in different grammatical situations and with slightly different nuances.

1. muutama lause – nominative

   • Typical as a subject:
     
     • Muutama lause riittää. – A few sentences are enough.
   • As a direct object, this bare form is usually not used in standard Finnish; you’d expect an object case instead.

2. muutaman lauseen – genitive singular (both words)

   • Used here as a total object of kirjoitan:
     
     • Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen.
       → I now write a few sentences (a definite, small amount) every day.
   • The action is seen as completing a whole, small set of sentences.

3. muutamia lauseita – partitive plural (both words)

   • Used as a partitive object, often more indefinite or “open‑ended”:
     
     • Kirjoitan joka päivä muutamia lauseita.
       → I write some sentences every day (a vague amount, not a fixed small set).

In your sentence, muutaman lauseen presents the few sentences as a complete amount the speaker typically finishes each day.
If you switched to muutamia lauseita, it would feel a bit more like some sentences or other, without suggesting such a definite small “quota”.

Why is lauseen singular when the meaning is “a few sentences” in the plural?

This is a mismatch between Finnish grammar and English translation.

• muutama is grammatically singular, even though its meaning is “a few”.
• When the phrase is in the genitive (as a total object here), both words go to genitive singular:
  • nominative: muutama lause – a few sentences
  • genitive: muutaman lauseen – (of) a few sentences

So the form is singular (lauseen), but the meaning is plural (“a few sentences”). Finnish often uses singular forms for quantified phrases like this.

What case are kynällä and tietokoneella, and why do they both end in -lla/-llä?

Both kynällä and tietokoneella are in the adessive case.

The adessive (ending -lla / -llä) has two main uses relevant here:

1. Location on/at something

   • pöydällä – on the table
   • asemalla – at the station

2. Instrument / means (“with / by / using”)

   • kynällä – with a pen
   • tietokoneella – with a computer / on the computer
   • bussilla – by bus
   • puhelimella – with a phone / by phone

In this sentence, kynällä and tietokoneella express the means of writing: using a pen or using a computer.

Does kynällä literally mean “with a pen”? When do I use -lla/-llä to mean “with”?

Yes, kynällä here is best translated as with a pen.

The adessive -lla/-llä is used for many instruments and tools:

• kirjoitan kynällä – I write with a pen
• leikkaan veitsellä – I cut with a knife
• maksoin kortilla – I paid by card
• kuljen bussilla – I travel by bus

In English you’d normally use with or by, but in Finnish you just put the noun into adessive, without any separate preposition.

However, adessive is not used for all “with” meanings; for example:

• “with my friend” = ystäväni kanssa, not ystävälläni.
  • kanssa is used for “together with (a person)”.

So: use -lla/-llä mainly for tools, devices, vehicles, and other means, not for “together with people”.

What exactly does tietokoneella mean here? Is it “on the computer” or “with the computer”?

In context, tietokoneella can be understood as both:

• on the computer (location + activity on a device)
• with a computer / using a computer (instrument)

Finnish doesn’t strictly separate these two ideas here: writing is an activity done on a device, and adessive -lla comfortably covers both the locative and instrumental sense.

So kynällä tai tietokoneella naturally means:

• with a pen or on the computer
• by hand or on the computer

Both translations capture the idea correctly.

Could I move kynällä tai tietokoneella earlier, for example Kynällä tai tietokoneella kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s still grammatically correct. Finnish allows fairly free word order; you can front various elements for emphasis:

• Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella.
• Kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella nyt. (sounds odd, but possible in some special contexts)
• Kynällä tai tietokoneella kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen.

When you move kynällä tai tietokoneella to the front, you’re emphasizing the means of writing:

• It’s with a pen or on the computer that I write a few sentences every day.

The original order (means at the end) is the most neutral; fronting it makes it sound more contrastive or stylistic.

Why is the verb kirjoitan in the simple present, when in English I’d probably say “I am writing”?

Finnish does not have a separate continuous/progressive tense like “am writing”. The present tense covers both:

• Nyt kirjoitan.
  = Now I write
  = I am writing now

Context decides whether it’s:

• a habit:
  
  • Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen.
    → Nowadays I write a few sentences every day.
• an action happening right now:
  
  • Nyt kirjoitan. Älä häiritse.
    → I’m writing now. Don’t disturb me.

In your full sentence, joka päivä (“every day”) makes it clearly habitual, so English naturally uses I write or I’m writing (every day); Finnish uses the same present form kirjoitan for both meanings.

Could I leave out nyt and just say Kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can omit nyt:

• Kirjoitan joka päivä muutaman lauseen kynällä tai tietokoneella.

Both sentences are grammatical, but the nuance changes:

• With nyt:

  • Nyt kirjoitan joka päivä...
    → Emphasizes a change of situation or contrast:
    Now I (finally / nowadays) write every day (whereas before I didn’t).

• Without nyt:

  • Kirjoitan joka päivä...
    → A straightforward statement of a habit, no special focus on “now”.

So nyt adds a sense of “nowadays / at this point in time” or from now on.

Could I use vai instead of tai, as in kynällä vai tietokoneella?

Not in this sentence. tai and vai are both translated as or, but they’re used in different contexts:

• tai = or (in statements and open questions)

  • Kirjoitan kynällä tai tietokoneella. – I write with a pen or on the computer.
  • Haluatko teetä tai kahvia? – Would you like tea or coffee? (either/both possible)

• vai = or (in yes/no or either–or questions, where you’re choosing between alternatives)

  • Kirjoitatko kynällä vai tietokoneella? – Do you write with a pen or on the computer?

Since your sentence is a statement, tai is the correct conjunction:

• kynällä tai tietokoneella – with a pen or on the computer (statement, not a question).