Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla. - I browse the online store in the evening.

Both are correct.
Using minä adds slight emphasis or clarity, but in everyday speech it is often left out unless you want to stress I (as opposed to someone else).

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

The basic dictionary form (the infinitive) is selata = to browse, to leaf through.

Conjugation in the present tense (active, indicative):

minä selaan – I browse
sinä selaat – you browse
hän selaa – he/she browses
me selaamme – we browse
te selaatte – you (pl.) browse
he selaavat – they browse

So selaan is selata in the 1st person singular: stem sela- + ending -n.

Why is it verkkokauppaa and not verkkokauppa?

Verkkokauppaa is in the partitive case, while verkkokauppa is the basic nominative form.

You use the partitive object when the action is:

incomplete / ongoing, or
unbounded / not affecting the whole object

Browsing a web store is open‑ended; you’re not “finishing” the web store. So Finnish uses the partitive:

Minä selaan verkkokauppaa.
I (am) browsing a web store / the web store (not “using it up”).

If the object were viewed as complete and the action as total, you’d normally use the accusative (often same form as nominative), e.g.:

Minä luen kirjan. – I read the book (from start to finish).

But with selata + a site/page, partitive is the natural choice.

What does the ending -aa in verkkokauppaa mean?

The ending -a / -ä is the partitive singular marker. Because of vowel harmony, kauppa takes -a, giving kauppaa.

Breakdown:

verkkokauppa – web store (nominative)
stem: verkkokauppa-
partitive singular: verkkokauppaa

So: kauppa → kauppaa, verkkokauppa → verkkokauppaa.

What exactly is verkkokauppa made of? Is it a compound word?

Yes, verkkokauppa is a compound noun:

verkko – net, network, web
kauppa – shop, store, trade

Together: verkkokauppa = online shop / web store / e-commerce site.

Compounds like this are written as one word in Finnish, not separated.

What does illalla mean literally, and what case is it?

Illalla is the adessive singular of ilta (evening).

ilta – evening
illalla – in the evening / this evening / tonight (depending on context)

The -lla / -llä ending often expresses:

location: pöydällä – on the table
time: illalla – in the evening, kesällä – in the summer

So illalla functions as an adverbial meaning in the evening / tonight.

Does illalla mean “this evening / tonight” or just “in the evenings (in general)”?

Context decides:

Minä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.
Often understood as I will browse the web store this evening / tonight (a specific evening, often today).

For a habitual action, Finns more often use something like:

Iltaisin selaan verkkokauppaa. – In the evenings, I browse the web store.

So illalla usually feels like a specific evening, often this one.

The verb is in the present. How can this sentence also mean future time?

Finnish usually uses the present tense for both:

present actions, and
near future actions

So:

Minä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.
- literally: I browse the web store in the evening.
- in natural English: often I’ll browse the web store this evening.

The time expression (illalla) shows that the action is in the future. Finnish doesn’t have a separate “will” future tense like English.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Illalla selaan verkkokauppaa?

The word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatical:

Minä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.
Selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.
Illalla selaan verkkokauppaa.
Illalla minä selaan verkkokauppaa.

Changing the order usually changes the emphasis, not the basic meaning:

Starting with Illalla emphasizes when: “As for the evening, that’s when I browse…”
Starting with Minä emphasizes the subject.

Neutral and common are:

(Minä) selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.

Are there articles in Finnish like “a / the” for verkkokauppaa?

No. Finnish has no articles like a, an, the.

verkkokauppaa could mean:
- a web store
- the web store
- web stores (in some contexts)

Which one is meant is inferred from context, not from a word like the.

Is there a more colloquial way to say Minä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla?

Yes, in spoken Finnish:

Minä → mä
Verbs often get shortened slightly in fast speech, but selaan is already short.

Common colloquial version:

Mä selaan verkkokauppaa illalla.

You would usually also drop the pronoun if it’s obvious:

Selaan verkkokauppaa illalla. (also natural in speech)

Could I use another verb instead of selata to talk about browsing?

Yes, some alternatives:

katsella – to look at, to view
- Katselen verkkokauppaa illalla. – I look at the web store in the evening.
tutkia – to examine, to study
- Tutkin verkkokauppaa illalla. – I examine the web store in the evening.
surffailla netissä – to surf on the internet (more general)
- Surffailen netissä illalla. – I surf on the internet in the evening.

Selata specifically suggests browsing through pages / lists / items, so it’s very appropriate for a web store.

Why is it kauppa → kauppaa and not something like kauppata?

Finnish doesn’t form the partitive by adding -ta to the nominative. Instead, it uses case endings attached to the stem.

For kauppa:

nominative: kauppa
stem: kauppa-
partitive singular: kauppaa (stem + -a)

You only see -ta / -tä as a partitive ending when the stem ends in a consonant, e.g.:

lehti (magazine) → lehteä (partitive)
joki (river) → jokea (partitive)
mies (man) → miestä (partitive)

With kauppa, the correct partitive is kauppaa, hence verkkokauppaa.