Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.

I often travel to different cities.

Breakdown of Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.

• minä: I
• usein: often
• matkustaa: to travel
• kaupunki: the city
• eri: different
• -ihin: to

Questions & Answers about Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence?

In Finnish, the personal ending on the verb already tells you the subject.

• matkustan = I travel / I am traveling / I will travel
  
  • the ending -n = first person singular (“I”).

Because the subject is clear from the verb form, minä (“I”) is usually left out. You’d say Minä matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin only if you want to emphasize I (e.g. “I travel often, unlike others.”).

What exactly does matkustan mean, and what is its base form?

The base (dictionary) form of the verb is matkustaa = “to travel”.

From that, you get:

• matkustan = I travel / I am traveling / I will travel (1st person singular, present tense)

Finnish present tense is quite broad: matkustan can mean a general habit (“I often travel”), something happening now (“I’m traveling”), or even a near future plan (“I’m going to travel”), depending on context.

How would the sentence change in the past tense, like “I often traveled to different cities”?

You put the verb into past tense:

• Matkustin usein eri kaupunkeihin.
  
  • matkustin = I traveled (past tense of matkustaa)

Everything else stays the same; usein, eri, and kaupunkeihin don’t change for past vs present.

What role does usein play, and where can it appear in the sentence?

usein means “often” and is an adverb describing how frequently you travel.

The basic word order is:

• Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.

You can also move it for emphasis:

• Usein matkustan eri kaupunkeihin. (Emphasis on “often”)
• Matkustan eri kaupunkeihin usein. (Neutral but a bit less typical; can emphasize that the traveling itself happens often.)

The meaning “often” stays the same; only the nuance or emphasis shifts slightly.

What does eri mean here, and why doesn’t it change form?

eri means “different / various” in this sentence: “to different cities”.

Unlike normal adjectives, eri is invariable: it does not change its form for case or number. So you say:

• eri kaupunkiin – to a different city
• eri kaupunkeihin – to different cities
• eri kaupungeissa – in different cities

In all of these, eri stays eri. If you want a “more descriptive” adjective that inflects, you can use erilainen (“different kind of”):

• erilaisiin kaupunkeihin – “to (various) different kinds of cities.”

What form is kaupunkeihin, and what does the ending mean?

kaupunkeihin is the illative plural form of kaupunki (“city”).

Breakdown:

• kaupunki = city (basic form)
• plural stem: kaupunke-
• illative plural ending: -ihin
  → kaupunke
  • ihin = kaupunkeihin

The illative case roughly corresponds to “into / to” some place, with movement toward an inside area. So eri kaupunkeihin means “to (into) different cities.”

What is the difference between kaupunkiin and kaupunkeihin?

• kaupunkiin = into/to a city (illative singular)
• kaupunkeihin = into/to cities (illative plural)

So:

• Matkustan usein eri kaupunkiin.
  
  • “I often travel to a different city.” (one city at a time; usually different from some reference city)
• Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.
  
  • “I often travel to different cities.” (more clearly plural: many cities overall)

Why is there no separate word for “to” before kaupunkeihin?

Finnish normally doesn’t use prepositions like “to” for destinations. Instead, the case ending on the noun expresses direction:

• kaupunki = city
• kaupunkiin = to/into the city
• kaupungista = from the city
• kaupungissa = in the city

So in Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin, the ending -ihin on kaupunkeihin already includes the idea of “to / into,” so no extra word like to is needed.

Why isn’t it eriin kaupunkeihin or something similar to show that “different” also gets an ending?

Because eri is invariable — it does not take any endings, even when the noun does.

In English, “different” also doesn’t change form, but in many Finnish adjectives you would normally see matching endings:

• uusi kaupunki → uuteen kaupunkiin (“new city” → “into a new city”)

With eri, that doesn’t happen. It always stays eri, while the noun takes all the case and number endings:

• eri kaupunkeihin – “to different cities”
• eri kaupungeissa – “in different cities”

Could I say Matkustan usein moniin kaupunkeihin instead? What’s the difference from eri kaupunkeihin?

Yes, you can; they’re slightly different in nuance:

• moniin kaupunkeihin = “to many cities”
  
  • Focus on quantity (many).
• eri kaupunkeihin = “to different cities”
  
  • Focus on them being different / various, not necessarily many (though often implied).

So eri highlights variety; moni (“many”) highlights number.

Is there a difference between matkustan and matkailen in this kind of sentence?

Both can appear in a similar sentence, but they carry a slightly different feel:

• Matkustan usein eri kaupunkeihin.
  
  • Neutral “I travel (go) often to different cities.” Can be for work, family, errands, etc.
• Matkailen usein eri kaupunkeihin.
  
  • Emphasizes traveling as tourism or leisure. More like “I often go traveling to different cities.”

So matkailen suggests you’re a traveler/tourist; matkustan is more neutral.

How would I say “I don’t often travel to different cities” using this sentence?

Use the negative verb en plus the basic verb form without the personal ending (matkusta), and keep usein:

• En usein matkusta eri kaupunkeihin.

Notes:

• en = “I don’t” (1st person singular negative)
• matkusta = base present stem used with the negative verb
• Putting usein after en is natural here and slightly emphasizes that “often” is what’s being negated.