Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

I want to finish work early.

Breakdown of Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

• minä: I
• aikaisin: early
• haluta: to want
• työ: the work
• lopettaa: to end

Questions & Answers about Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

Do I have to say Minä, or can I just say Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin?

You can absolutely drop Minä here. Both are correct:

• Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
• Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

Finnish usually leaves out personal pronouns, because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is:

• haluan = I want
• haluat = you (sg) want
• haluaa = he/she wants

You keep Minä if you want to emphasize I:

• Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
  = I (as opposed to someone else) want to finish work early.

Why is it haluan lopettaa and not haluan lopetan?

In Finnish, when one verb “wants” another verb after it, the second verb usually goes into the basic infinitive form (the dictionary form):

• haluan = I want (finite verb, conjugated)
• lopettaa = to finish / to stop (infinitive)

You normally have only one conjugated (finite) verb per clause. So:

• ❌ Minä haluan lopetan työn aikaisin. (two finite verbs → wrong)
• ✅ Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

This is similar to English “I want to finish”, not “I want I finish.”

What exactly does lopettaa mean here? Is it “finish work” or “quit my job”?

Lopettaa basically means to stop / to end / to finish (something).

In this sentence, Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin most naturally means something like:

• I want to finish the work early (today / this time).

However, the exact nuance depends on context:

• If you’re talking about today’s workday, many Finns would more naturally say:

  • Haluan lopettaa työt aikaisin. (plural työt = “my work / today’s tasks”)
  • or Haluan lähteä töistä aikaisin. = I want to leave (from) work early.

• If you’re talking about a particular task / project, lopettaa työn can mean:

  • I want to finish this job/task early.

To clearly say “quit my job (permanently)”, Finns would normally use something like:

• Haluan lopettaa tämän työn. = I want to quit this job.
• Haluan irtisanoutua. = I want to resign.

So: the given sentence by itself is more like “I want to finish the (current) work early”, not necessarily “I want to quit my job forever.” Context makes it clear.

Why is työn in that form? What is the -n ending doing?

Työn is the genitive singular form of työ (work, job).

In this sentence, työn is the object of lopettaa (“to finish the work”). For many verbs, especially verbs like do, finish, read, eat, a “whole” / completed object often appears in:

• Genitive singular (like työn)
  or
• Nominative plural (like työt)

So:

• Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
  = I want to (completely) finish the work early.

Here, työn functions much like English “the work” as a definite, whole object.

Could I say työ, työt, or työtä instead of työn? What’s the difference?

These forms all exist, but they carry different nuances and naturalness:

1. työ (base form, nominative singular)

   • Rare as an object in this kind of sentence.
   • You wouldn’t normally say ✗ Haluan lopettaa työ aikaisin.

2. työn (genitive singular) – the one in your sentence

   • Focuses on one whole job / piece of work being finished.
   • Good if you mean a specific job or task.
   • Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
     → I want to finish the (specific) work early.

3. työt (nominative plural)

   • Very common in everyday speech to mean one’s work / tasks / shift:
   • Haluan lopettaa työt aikaisin.
     → Very natural for I want to finish (my) work early (today).

4. työtä (partitive singular)

   • Partitive objects often mean an ongoing process, an incomplete amount, or “some work.”
   • With lopettaa, työtä is uncommon and sounds off here; you’d more often see structures like:
     • lopettaa työnteon = stop working
     • lopettaa tekemästä työtä = stop doing work

For “finish work early (today)” the most natural in modern everyday Finnish is:

• Haluan lopettaa työt aikaisin.
• or Haluan lähteä töistä aikaisin. (leave work early)

If I want to say “I want to leave work early (today)”, what is the most natural Finnish sentence?

The most idiomatic options are:

• Haluan lähteä töistä aikaisin.
  = I want to leave (from) work early.

or (very common):

• Haluan lopettaa työt aikaisin.
  = I want to finish work early.

Your original Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin is grammatical, but it sounds more like:

• I want to finish this (particular) job early,
  not specifically “leave the workplace early.”

Why is it aikaisin and not aikainen?

• aikainen is an adjective = early (describing a noun)

  • aikainen aamu = an early morning

• aikaisin is an adverb = early (describing a verb)

  • Herään aikaisin. = I wake up early.
  • Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin. = I want to finish work early.

English uses the same word early in both functions, but Finnish separates them:

• aikainen (adjective) → “early” [thing]
• aikaisin (adverb) → “early” [do something]

Can I change the word order, like Haluan lopettaa aikaisin työn?

The default, most natural word order is:

• Minä haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
  Subject – Verb – Object – Adverb

Other possibilities:

• Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin. (drop Minä) – very natural.
• Minä haluan aikaisin lopettaa työn. – grammatically possible, but sounds marked or poetic; the focus shifts oddly.
• Haluan aikaisin lopettaa työn. – also possible but less neutral; aikaisin gets extra emphasis.

Haluan lopettaa aikaisin työn is not ungrammatical, but it sounds quite unnatural to most native speakers. In neutral, everyday Finnish, you normally keep the object before the adverb here:

• ✅ Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.

What’s the difference between Haluan and Haluaisin in a sentence like this?

• Haluan = I want (present indicative, direct)

  • Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin.
    → A clear statement of desire: I want to finish work early.

• Haluaisin = I would like (conditional mood)

  • Haluaisin lopettaa työn aikaisin.
    → More polite / softer / more hypothetical, like English I’d like to finish work early.

You might use haluaisin when talking to a boss or being polite:

• Haluaisin tänään lopettaa työt aikaisin, jos se sopii.
  = I’d like to finish work early today, if that’s okay.

How do I make this sentence negative? As in, “I don’t want to finish work early.”

You negate the wanting verb, haluta, not lopettaa:

• En halua lopettaa työn aikaisin.
  = I don’t want to finish the work early.

Changes:

• Minä haluan → Minä en halua (or just En halua)
• lopettaa stays in the infinitive.
• työn aikaisin stays the same.

More natural everyday phrasing with työt:

• En halua lopettaa töitä aikaisin.
  = I don’t want to finish work early.

What infinitive form is lopettaa here? Could it also be lopettamaan or something else?

Here, lopettaa is the first infinitive (basic dictionary form). After haluta (to want), you always use this form:

• Haluan syödä. = I want to eat.
• Haluan mennä kotiin. = I want to go home.
• Haluan lopettaa työn aikaisin. = I want to finish work early.

Other forms like lopettamaan (3rd infinitive illative) appear with different verb patterns:

• Alan lopettamaan työn. (colloquial; standard is Alan lopettaa työn.)
  = I’m starting to finish/stop the work.
• Opin lopettamaan ajoissa.
  = I learned to stop in time.

But after “haluan” the correct form is always the basic infinitive:

• ✅ Haluan lopettaa …
• ❌ Haluan lopettamaan …

Is there a more colloquial way people would actually say this in spoken Finnish?

Yes. In everyday spoken Finnish, you’ll often hear:

• Mä haluun lopettaa työt aikasin.

Changes compared to standard:

• Minä → Mä (spoken pronoun)
• haluan → haluun (shortened spoken form)
• työt instead of työn (very common for “my work / today’s work”)
• aikaisin → often pronounced aikas(i)n, sometimes written aikas in very informal text

Standard written Finnish:

• Minä haluan lopettaa työt aikaisin.

Colloquial spoken Finnish:

• Mä haluun lopettaa työt aikasin.