Breakdown of Illalla olen vielä työpöydän ääressä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
Questions & Answers about Illalla olen vielä työpöydän ääressä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
Illalla comes from ilta (evening) + the ending -lla (adessive case).
Literally it’s something like “on the evening”, but in natural English we say “in the evening”.
Finnish usually does not use prepositions (like in, on, at) for time expressions. Instead, it uses case endings on the noun itself. For time, -lla/-llä is very common:
- aamulla – in the morning
- päivällä – in the daytime
- illalla – in the evening
- yöllä – at night
So Illalla olen… = In the evening I am… with the preposition “hidden” inside the case ending -lla.
Note: illalla here typically refers to a specific or concrete evening (tonight / that evening), not a general habit. For habitual “in the evenings”, Finnish would more likely use iltaisin.
Työpöydän ääressä literally means “at the edge of the desk”, but idiomatically it means “at the desk” (sitting or working there).
Breakdown:
- työpöytä = desk (literally “work table”)
- työpöydän = genitive form of työpöytä (of the desk)
- ääressä = inessive case of ääri (edge), used as a postposition meaning “at / by / next to” in the sense of being seated at something (table, desk, piano, etc.).
This genitive + postposition structure is very common in Finnish:
- pöydän ääressä – at the table
- ikkunan ääressä – by the window
- tietokoneen ääressä – at the computer
So työpöydän ääressä is best understood as “at the desk (sitting there, working there)”.
Both are possible, but they have different nuances:
työpöydällä (adessive: “on the desk”)
- Primary meaning: on top of the desk, on its surface.
- As a location for a person, it can feel a bit odd or comical, as if you’re on top of the desk. Context can save it, but that’s the literal picture.
työpöydän ääressä
- Picture: You are sitting at the desk, next to it, working.
- This is the natural, idiomatic choice when talking about a person’s working position.
So:
- Kirjat ovat työpöydällä. – The books are on the desk.
- Olen työpöydän ääressä. – I am at (working at) the desk.
That’s why in this sentence työpöydän ääressä is used.
Avaamassa is the 3rd infinitive in the inessive case (often called the MA-infinitive in -ssa).
From the basic verb avata (“to open”):
- Take the MA-infinitive stem: avaama-
- Add the inessive ending -ssa/-ssä → avaamassa
So grammatically:
- avata → “to open” (basic infinitive)
- avaamassa → “in (the process of) opening”
This MA-infinitive form is used in many constructions. With olla (“to be”), as here, it describes an ongoing action you are in the middle of:
- Olen avaamassa tiedostoa. – I am (in the middle of) opening a file.
Both are grammatically correct, but the focus is different:
Illalla avaan viimeisen tiedoston.
- Simple present: “In the evening I open the last file.”
- Neutral statement of what happens at that time; feels a bit more like a planned or habitual action.
Illalla olen vielä … avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
- olla + -massa/-mässä highlights that you are in the middle of doing something.
- Very close to English “I’m (still) opening…” – aspect of ongoing, not finished.
So olen avaamassa adds a sense of process or incompleteness: at that point in the evening, you haven’t finished opening it yet; you’re still engaged in that action.
Viimeistä tiedostoa is in the partitive singular, and it matches the idea that the action is ongoing and incomplete.
- viimeinen tiedosto – “the last file” (nominative, as a plain subject or predicate)
- viimeisen tiedoston – “the last file” as a complete object, often used when the action is viewed as completed
- viimeistä tiedostoa – “the last file” as a partitive object, typical when:
- the action is in progress / not finished
- the focus is on the ongoing process rather than the result
In Olen avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa:
- The structure olla + -massa already emphasizes “being in the middle of doing”.
- The partitive object supports this: you are not yet “done with” the last file; you’re still opening it.
If you said:
- Illalla avaan viimeisen tiedoston.
- Neutral, completed action: “I open (or will open) the last file (and finish opening it).”
So the choice of viimeistä tiedostoa fits very well with the “still/ongoing” feeling of the whole sentence.
In this sentence vielä means “still”:
- Illalla olen vielä työpöydän ääressä…
→ In the evening I’m still at my desk…
Key points:
- vielä in positive sentences often means “still / yet”:
- Olen vielä kotona. – I’m still at home.
- In questions, it can mean “yet / already”:
- Oletko jo syönyt vai etkö vielä? – Have you already eaten or not yet?
Compare:
- yhä – also “still”, but a bit more formal/literary; often interchangeable with vielä in the “still” sense.
- enää – the negative counterpart of “still”:
- En ole enää työpöydän ääressä. – I’m no longer / not still at my desk.
So here vielä highlights that even at that time in the evening, you are still at your desk.
Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and you can move elements to change emphasis rather than basic meaning. Some natural variants:
Illalla olen vielä työpöydän ääressä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
– Neutral: emphasis starts from the time “Illalla”.Olen illalla vielä työpöydän ääressä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
– Slightly more focus on “I am”, with illalla felt more as extra info.Illalla olen vielä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa työpöydän ääressä.
– Moves the place closer to the verb phrase; still grammatical and natural.Illalla olen työpöydän ääressä vielä avaamassa viimeistä tiedostoa.
– Puts vielä right before avaamassa, highlighting “still in the opening phase”.
All of these are understandable; the core meaning doesn’t change much. What changes is which piece of information feels most highlighted (time, place, the “still”, or the action).
As long as the sentence isn’t broken into something very unnatural, Finnish allows this kind of reordering, especially when the cases (like -lla, -ssa, genitive, partitive) make the roles of words clear.