Learn Hardcore Finnish: Lukeminen bussissa auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkan. - Reading on the bus helps me forget the traffic jam.

In Finnish, when a verb acts as the subject of the sentence (an activity seen as a thing), it is usually turned into a noun-like form with -minen.

lukea = to read
lukeminen = reading, the act of reading

So the structure is:

Lukeminen bussissa = Reading on the bus
auttaa minua = helps me
unohtamaan ruuhkan = to forget the traffic jam

Using lukeminen makes the sentence mean roughly:
The act of reading on the bus helps me to forget the traffic jam.

Using plain lukea as the subject here (Lukea bussissa auttaa…) would be ungrammatical in standard Finnish.

How is lukeminen formed from lukea, and can I do this with other verbs?

Lukeminen is formed from the verb lukea using a common pattern:

Take the strong stem of the verb: luke-
Add -minen

So:

lukea → lukeminen (reading)
syödä → syöminen (eating)
kirjoittaa → kirjoittaminen (writing)
opiskella → opiskelu (this one happens to change more, but often you also see opiskeleminen)

This -minen form is:

A noun (you can treat it like a normal noun: lukeminen on hauskaa – Reading is fun)
Often used as a subject or object when you want to talk about an activity as a thing.

What exactly does bussissa mean, and why that form instead of something like bussilla?

Bussissa is:

The noun bussi (bus)
In the inessive case: -ssa / -ssä
Meaning: in the bus / on the bus (inside the bus)

So:

bussissa = in/on the bus (location inside)
bussilla = by bus, with the bus, using the bus as a means of transport
bussiin = into the bus (movement into)

In this sentence, lukeminen bussissa focuses on where the reading happens (inside the bus).
If you said Lukeminen bussilla…, it would sound more like “reading while travelling by bus,” but bussissa is the natural choice for “reading on the bus” in the sense of being inside it.

Why is it minua and not minä or minut after auttaa?

Minua is the partitive form of minä (I).

The verb auttaa almost always takes the person being helped in the partitive:

Autan sinua. – I help you.
Hän auttaa minua. – He/She helps me.

So in the sentence:

auttaa minua = helps me

You cannot say:

✗ auttaa minä – wrong (nominative, used for subjects)
✗ auttaa minut – wrong in this meaning (that would sound like “helps me (to some final state/action)”, used in special structures like autan sinut ylös – I’ll help you up)

Here, the normal pattern is:
auttaa + person in partitive → auttaa minua

Why is unohtamaan used and not just unohtaa?

Unohtamaan is a special infinitive form that usually means “to (go and) forget” / “to do forgetting”. It is:

The third infinitive of unohtaa
In the illative case (ending -maan / -mään)

Pattern:

unohtaa → unohtama‑ + an → unohtamaan
lukea → lukema‑ + an → lukemaan
syödä → syömä‑ + än → syömään

With auttaa, Finnish often uses this -maan / -mään form:

auttaa minua unohtamaan = helps me (to) forget
auttaa minua oppimaan = helps me (to) learn
auttaa minua jaksamaan = helps me cope

Using plain unohtaa here (✗ auttaa minua unohtaa ruuhkan) is not standard; the natural construction is auttaa (jotakuta) tekemään jotain with this -maan / -mään form.

What exactly is the grammatical name and role of unohtamaan?

Form details:

Base verb: unohtaa (to forget)
Infinitive: third infinitive
Case: illative
Surface form: unohtamaan

Function:

It acts like a “to do X” complement after certain verbs.
With auttaa, it expresses what the helping enables:
auttaa minua unohtamaan = helps me to forget.

You will see the same pattern with many verbs of beginning, continuing, going, and helping:

menen nukkumaan – I’m going to sleep
alan lukemaan – I start reading
jään odottamaan – I stay to wait
auttaa minua unohtamaan – helps me to forget

Why is it ruuhkan and not ruuhkaa or ruuhka?

Ruuhkan is:

From ruuhka (traffic jam)
In the genitive singular, which here functions as a total object (often called accusative in this context)

Simple idea:

ruuhkan = the (whole) traffic jam, completely
ruuhkaa = (some) traffic jam / traffic jam in general, partially/indefinitely

Finnish object cases often show whether the action is complete/total or partial/ongoing:

Unohdan ruuhkan. – I (completely) forget the traffic jam.
Unohdan ruuhkaa. – I’m (in the process of) forgetting the traffic jam / I forget it to some extent. (Much less natural here.)

In the sentence, the idea is that reading helps you fully forget that specific traffic jam, so ruuhkan (total object) fits best.

Could we say Lukeminen bussissa auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkaa instead of ruuhkan? Would it change the meaning?

It is grammatically possible, but the nuance changes.

unohtamaan ruuhkan – to forget the (specific) traffic jam completely.
unohtamaan ruuhkaa – to forget traffic jam (as a kind of thing) or some of the traffic jam, more vague and partial.

In practice:

ruuhkan sounds natural and specific: that traffic jam you are stuck in.
ruuhkaa sounds more like a general, less concrete idea of “traffic (congestion)” and is less likely in this context.

So ruuhkan is clearly the better and more idiomatic choice here.

Can the word order be changed, for example to Bussissa lukeminen auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkan?

Yes, Finnish word order is quite flexible.

Both are grammatical:

Lukeminen bussissa auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkan.
– Neutral, lukeminen (reading) is the main topic.
Bussissa lukeminen auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkan.
– Slight emphasis on bussissa (on the bus): it’s specifically reading on the bus (as opposed to elsewhere).

You could also say:

Lukeminen auttaa minua unohtamaan ruuhkan bussissa.
This is technically possible, but now bussissa is closest to unohtamaan ruuhkan, so it can sound like “helps me forget the traffic jam on the bus”, which is a bit odd semantically. The original order avoids that ambiguity and sounds more natural.

Why is there no separate word for “the” before bussissa or ruuhkan?

Finnish has no articles like “the” or “a/an”.

Definiteness (whether something is “the bus” or “a bus”) is shown by:

Context
Case endings
Sometimes word order

In this sentence:

bussissa naturally means “on the bus” from context (the bus you are on).
ruuhkan naturally means “the traffic jam” (the one you are stuck in).

So even though there is no word for “the”, the Finnish listener understands it as specific, not just any random bus or traffic jam.