Illalla katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa, jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen.

In the evening I watch a Finnish TV series so that my ears get used to the language.

Breakdown of Illalla katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa, jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen.

• minä: I
• minun: my
• kieli: the language
• katsoa: to watch
• jotta: so that
• illalla: in the evening
• -een: to
• korva: the ear
• tottua: to get used to
• suomenkielinen: Finnish-language
• televisiosarja: the TV series

Questions & Answers about Illalla katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa, jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen.

Why is there no minä in Illalla katson…? Shouldn’t it be Minä katson?

In Finnish, subject pronouns (like minä, sinä) are usually left out, because the verb ending shows the person.

• katson already tells us I watch (1st person singular).
• Adding minä is only needed for emphasis or contrast:

Minä katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa, en sinä.
I’m the one who watches a Finnish‑language TV series, not you.

So Illalla katson… is the normal, neutral way to say In the evening I watch…

Why Illalla and not just ilta? What does the -lla ending mean?

Illalla is ilta (evening) in the adessive case, and one of the uses of the adessive is to express time: “at / in the (part of the day)”.

Common time expressions with adessive:

• aamulla – in the morning
• päivällä – in the daytime
• illalla – in the evening
• yöllä – at night

So Illalla katson… literally is “In the evening I watch…” or “At night I watch…” (depending on context). Just ilta would mean evening as a basic noun, not in the evening.

Does Illalla katson… mean “this evening” or “in the evenings (habitually)”?

By default:

• Illalla katson… usually refers to this evening / tonight (this specific upcoming evening).
• For habitual action (in general, on evenings), Finns often say:
  • iltaisin katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa – in the evenings I watch…

However, context can make illalla sound more habitual, especially together with a general reason like jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen. If you want to be clearly general/habitual, iltaisin is safer.

Why is it suomenkielistä and not suomenkielinen?

Suomenkielinen is an adjective meaning Finnish‑language (literally “Finnish‑tongued”). Adjectives in Finnish agree with the noun in case and number.

• Nominative: suomenkielinen televisiosarja – a Finnish‑language TV series
• Partitive: suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa

In the sentence, the noun televisiosarjaa is in the partitive singular, so the adjective must also be partitive singular: suomenkielistä.

So:

• suomenkielinen televisiosarja (dictionary form)
• katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa (in a real sentence, object in partitive)

What’s the difference between suomenkielinen televisiosarja and suomalainen televisiosarja?

• suomenkielinen televisiosarja
  = a TV series in the Finnish language (its spoken language is Finnish)

• suomalainen televisiosarja
  = a Finnish (origin) TV series, made in Finland / by Finns

These often overlap, but not always:

• A series made in Finland but dubbed into English: suomalainen, but no longer suomenkielinen.
• A Swedish series dubbed into Finnish: suomenkielinen, but not suomalainen.

In the sentence, you care about the language for listening practice, so suomenkielistä is the natural choice.

Why is televisiosarjaa in the partitive case? Why not televisiosarjan?

As an object, televisiosarja can be:

• Genitive (total object):
  katson televisiosarjan – I watch the (whole) TV series / I will finish it
• Partitive (partial/ongoing object):
  katson televisiosarjaa – I watch (some) TV series / I’m watching it as an ongoing or habitual activity

In this sentence you are not talking about completing an entire series; you’re describing an ongoing or habitual activity for practice. That’s why partitive (televisiosarjaa) is preferred.

Very roughly:

• televisiosarjan – focus on the completed whole
• televisiosarjaa – focus on the activity / an indefinite amount

Is televisiosarja always one word? Can I say televisio sarja?

In this meaning it is written as one compound word: televisiosarja.

Finnish likes to join related nouns into compounds:

• televisio
  • sarja → televisiosarja (TV series)
• talo
  • mies → talomies (janitor; lit. house man)
• koulu
  • kirja → koulukirja (school book)

Writing it as two separate words (televisio sarja) looks wrong to native speakers and can confuse the meaning, so stick to televisiosarja.

Why is there a comma before jotta in Finnish, when in English we might not put one before “so that”?

In Finnish, a subordinate clause introduced by words like jotta, että, koska, kun is normally separated by a comma from the main clause.

• Illalla katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa, jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen.
• Luen paljon, koska haluan oppia.

English is more flexible with commas here, but in standard written Finnish this comma is mandatory.

What exactly does jotta mean, and how is it different from että?

Both jotta and että introduce subordinate clauses, but:

• jotta = so that, in order that → purpose / intended result

  • Katson sarjaa, jotta korvani tottuvat kieleen.
    I watch the series so that my ears get used to the language.

• että is more general, often like that or sometimes like so that but more neutral:

  • Tiedän, että opit nopeasti. – I know that you learn quickly.
  • Olen niin väsynyt, että nukahdan heti. – I’m so tired that I fall asleep immediately. (result, not goal)

In your sentence, you are stating a goal, so jotta is the natural choice.

Why korvani and not minun korvani? What does the -ni ending do?

The ending -ni is a possessive suffix meaning “my”.

• korva – ear
• korvani – my ear / my ears
• minun korvani – literally my my ear(s) (both pronoun and suffix)

In standard style you usually use either:

• a possessive suffix: korvani tottuvat
• or a possessive pronoun: minun korvani tottuvat

Using both is possible (especially in spoken language) but can sound redundant or emphatic. The sentence uses just the suffix, which is compact and natural.

Is korvani singular or plural? How can one form mean both “my ear” and “my ears”?

Korvani is morphologically ambiguous: it can mean “my ear” or “my ears”. The possessive suffix -ni doesn’t mark number; it only marks my.

You know it’s plural here because the verb is plural:

• korvani tottuu – my ear gets used (3rd sg)
• korvani tottuvat – my ears get used (3rd pl)

So in the sentence:

• korvani tottuvat kieleen = my ears get used to the language.

Context and verb agreement tell you the intended number.

Why is the verb tottuvat in the 3rd person plural?

The grammatical subject is korvani (my ear(s)). In this sentence it is understood as plural (my ears), so the verb must agree:

• 3rd person singular: (yksi korva) tottuu
• 3rd person plural: (monet korvat) tottuvat

Because the idea is clearly both ears getting used to the language, the plural tottuvat is used.

Why is it kieleen after tottua, and what case is that?

Kieleen is the illative case of kieli (language).

The verb tottua (to get used to, to become accustomed to) governs the illative: you get used into something, conceptually.

• tottua kieleen – get used to the language
• tottua kylmään säähän – get used to the cold weather
• tottua uuteen työpaikkaan – get used to the new workplace

So the structure is:

• tottua + illative
  and that’s why the form is kieleen, not kieli, kieltä, or kielen.