Learn Hardcore Finnish: Iltaisin jatkan kirjoittamista samaan muistikirjaan keittiön pöydän ääressä. - In the evenings I continue writing in the same notebook at the kitchen table.

Iltaisin is an adverbial form meaning “in the evenings / on evenings (habitually)”. It comes from ilta (evening) and expresses something that happens regularly, as a routine.

Illalla means “in the evening (on that/one evening)”, usually referring to a specific evening (today, tomorrow, on that particular day, etc.).

Iltaisin jatkan kirjoittamista… = I keep doing this on evenings in general, as a habit.
Illalla jatkan kirjoittamista… = On this/that evening I will continue writing.

So iltaisin = habitual, repeated time; illalla = one specific time.

Why is there no subject pronoun like minä before jatkan?

In Finnish, the verb ending already shows the person, so subject pronouns are often omitted when they are not needed for emphasis.

jatkan = first person singular (I continue)
- stem: jatka-
- ending: -n (I)

So Iltaisin jatkan… automatically means “In the evenings I continue…”.

You can say Minä jatkan for emphasis (for example, to contrast with someone else), but the neutral sentence does not need minä.

What form is kirjoittamista, and why is that form used here?

Kirjoittamista is the partitive singular of the verbal noun kirjoittaminen (“writing” as an activity).

Base noun: kirjoittaminen = writing (the act of writing)
Partitive singular: kirjoittamista

The verb jatkaa (“to continue”) typically takes its object in the partitive case, especially when you are continuing an ongoing, not-yet-finished activity:

jatkan kirjoittamista = I continue (the) writing / I keep writing
jatkan lukemista = I continue reading

So kirjoittamista is used because:

The activity “writing” is expressed as a noun (kirjoittaminen).
jatkaa requires the partitive for this kind of object.

Why can’t you say jatkan kirjoittaa instead of jatkan kirjoittamista?

With jatkaa in the sense of “to continue doing something”, Finnish does not use the bare infinitive (kirjoittaa). Instead, it uses:

a -minen noun: jatkan kirjoittamista
in other similar verbs also: aloitan kirjoittamisen (I start writing), lopetan kirjoittamisen (I stop writing)

So:

✅ jatkan kirjoittamista
❌ jatkan kirjoittaa (this is ungrammatical in standard Finnish)

In short: jatkaa + -minen-noun (in partitive), not jatkaa + infinitive.

Why is it samaan muistikirjaan and not something like samassa muistikirjassa?

The form muistikirjaan is in the illative case, which usually means “into / to / towards”. When you “write in a notebook” in Finnish, you literally “write into the notebook”:

kirjoitan muistikirjaan = I write into a notebook

Because of that direction/target meaning, both the adjective sama and the noun muistikirja appear in the illative:

sama → samaan (illative)
muistikirja → muistikirjaan (illative)

So samaan muistikirjaan = “into the same notebook”.

Samassa muistikirjassa would use inessive (-ssa = “in”), and feels wrong for this verb; you don’t normally “continue in a notebook” but “continue into a notebook” in Finnish.

What case is muistikirjaan, and how is that ending formed?

Muistikirjaan is in the illative singular case, which often corresponds to “into / to / in(onto)” in English.

Base word: muistikirja (“notebook”; literally muisti “memory” + kirja “book”)
Illative: muistikirjaan

Formation pattern:

For many -a/-ä nouns like kirja, the illative singular is formed by:
- lengthening the final vowel (a → aa)
- adding -n

kirja → kirjaan
muistikirja → muistikirjaan

So muistikirjaan literally means “into the notebook”.

What does samaan agree with, and why is it in that form?

Samaan is the illative singular of sama (“same”).

Adjectives in Finnish must agree in case and number with the noun they modify:

noun: muistikirjaan (illative singular)
adjective: samaan (illative singular)

So we get:

sama muistikirja = the same notebook (basic form)
samaan muistikirjaan = into the same notebook (illative form for both words)

If the noun were in another case, sama would match it:

samassa muistikirjassa = in the same notebook (both inessive)
samasta muistikirjasta = from the same notebook (both elative)

How does keittiön pöydän ääressä work grammatically? Why are keittiön and pöydän in the genitive?

The phrase keittiön pöydän ääressä breaks down like this:

pöydän ääressä = “at/by the table”
- pöydän = genitive of pöytä (“table”)
- ääressä = postposition meaning “at the edge of / by / at”

With many postpositions (words like alla, päällä, takana, edessä, ääressä), the noun they govern is in the genitive:

pöydän ääressä = at the table
talon edessä = in front of the house
oven takana = behind the door

Now, keittiön pöytä = “the kitchen’s table” → “the kitchen table”. In Finnish, a noun modifying another noun like this is also put in the genitive:

keittiön pöytä = the kitchen’s table
keittiön pöydän (genitive of that whole phrase) ääressä = at the kitchen table

So both keittiön and pöydän are genitive:

keittiön modifies pöytä (kitchen’s table)
pöydän is required by the postposition ääressä.

What is the difference between pöydän ääressä and pöydällä?

They describe different spatial relationships:

pöydän ääressä = “at the table, by the table”
- Suggests you are sitting or standing next to the table, typically using it: eating, working, writing, etc.
- Focus is on being positioned beside the table.
pöydällä = “on the table”
- Something is physically resting on the top surface of the table.
- For example: kirja on pöydällä = the book is on the table.

So in this sentence, keittiön pöydän ääressä fits because the person is likely sitting at the kitchen table while writing, not on top of it.

Could the word order be different, for example: Jatkan iltaisin kirjoittamista samaan muistikirjaan keittiön pöydän ääressä?

Yes. Finnish word order is fairly flexible because case endings mark grammatical roles. Both of these are correct:

Iltaisin jatkan kirjoittamista samaan muistikirjaan keittiön pöydän ääressä.
Jatkan iltaisin kirjoittamista samaan muistikirjaan keittiön pöydän ääressä.

The difference is mostly about emphasis and rhythm:

Starting with Iltaisin slightly emphasizes the time frame (“As for evenings, that’s when I do this”).
Starting with Jatkan is a bit more neutral: “I continue writing in the evenings…”.

Other permutations are also possible, as long as the phrase keittiön pöydän ääressä stays together and the sentence remains natural in context.

What exactly does ääressä mean, and when do you use it instead of something else?

Ääressä is a postposition meaning roughly “at / by / at the edge of”. It often implies:

Being next to a surface or object
Typically engaged in some activity using that object

Common uses:

pöydän ääressä = at the table (eating, working, writing)
tietokoneen ääressä = at the computer
takan ääressä = by the fireplace

You choose ääressä rather than, say, pöydällä (“on the table”) when the idea is using or being stationed next to that object, not physically sitting or lying on top of it.

What does muistikirja literally mean?

Muistikirja is a compound noun:

muisti = memory
kirja = book

So literally it’s a “memory book”, which corresponds to “notebook” in English – a book where you write down things to remember.

Is jatkan here a present tense form, and how does it express habitual action together with iltaisin?

Yes, jatkan is the present tense form of jatkaa for 1st person singular.

Finnish does not have a separate “present continuous” form like English (I am continuing). The same present form jatkan can mean:

an action happening right now
a habitual action

The adverb iltaisin (“in the evenings, habitually”) makes the habitual meaning clear:

Iltaisin jatkan kirjoittamista…
= In the evenings, I (typically) continue writing…

So the combination present tense + iltaisin expresses regular, repeated action.