Learn Hardcore Finnish: Kanavalla on jo paljon tilaajia eri maista. - The channel already has many subscribers from different countries.

Regular sentence: Tilaajat ovat täällä.
- “The subscribers are here.”
- Subject = tilaajat, verb agrees → ovat (plural).
Existential sentence: Kanavalla on tilaajia.
- “There are subscribers on the channel.” / “The channel has subscribers.”
- The structure is Kanavalla on
  - [something], so the verb is on.

So: even with plural tilaajia, we keep on, not ovat, in this construction.

Why is tilaajia in the form tilaajia and not tilaajat?

Tilaajia is the partitive plural of tilaaja (subscriber).

Basic forms:

singular nominative: tilaaja = subscriber
plural nominative: tilaajat = subscribers
plural partitive: tilaajia = (some) subscribers

In this sentence:

paljon (a lot, many) requires the partitive case for the thing being counted.
So “a lot of subscribers” → paljon tilaajia.

If you said paljon tilaajat, it would be ungrammatical. With paljon, use:

paljon + [partitive]:
- paljon vettä = a lot of water
- paljon ihmisiä = a lot of people
- paljon tilaajia = a lot of subscribers

What is the role of paljon in this sentence?

Paljon means “a lot (of), many, much”.

Grammatically:

It functions like a quantifier.
It is followed by a partitive form of the noun.

So:

paljon tilaajia = a lot of subscribers / many subscribers

Other examples:

paljon rahaa = a lot of money
paljon töitä = a lot of work
paljon kirjoja = many books

In your sentence, paljon modifies tilaajia and tells you how many subscribers there are.

What does jo add to the meaning, and where can it go?

Jo means “already”.

In Kanavalla on jo paljon tilaajia eri maista, it indicates that:

at some earlier time there were few or no subscribers,
but now there are already many.

Typical placements:

Kanavalla on jo paljon tilaajia. (neutral, common)
Kanavalla on paljon tilaajia jo nyt. (emphasizes “already now”)
Jo kanavalla on paljon tilaajia. (more poetic or emphatic, less typical in everyday speech)

The version you have is the normal spoken/written order.

Why is it eri maista and not eri maat or erilaisia maita?

Break it down:

eri = different (as in “separate, distinct”), invariable form
maa = country
maista = “from countries” (plural elative case: -sta/-stä)

Eri maista literally means:

“from different countries”

Why maista and not maat?

Maat is nominative plural (“countries”), used as a subject or basic object.
Here, the idea is “from” countries, so you need the elative case:
- maista = from (the) countries

Why not erilaisia maita?

erilainen = “different kind of” (different in type/quality)
erilaisia maita = different kinds of countries
That puts more focus on types of countries, whereas eri maista is just “from different countries (various countries)”.

So eri maista is the natural way to say “from different countries” in Finnish.

What case is maista, and what does that case usually mean?

Maista is:

plural elative of maa (country).

The elative case ending is:

-sta / -stä in singular and plural.

Core meaning: “out of, from inside, from among”.

Examples:

talosta = from (the) house
kirjasta = from (the) book
maasta = from (the) country
maista = from (the) countries

In your sentence:

eri maista = from different countries
→ indicating origin / source of the subscribers.

Can I change the word order, for example to Paljon tilaajia on kanavalla?

Yes, Finnish allows relatively free word order, but the neutral and most natural order here is:

Kanavalla on jo paljon tilaajia eri maista.

Other possible orders and their feel:

Kanavalla on paljon tilaajia jo eri maista. – a bit odd; jo usually comes earlier.
Paljon tilaajia on kanavalla. – possible, but can sound slightly emphatic: focus shifts to “a lot of subscribers”, like “It’s on that channel that there are a lot of subscribers.”
Jo paljon tilaajia on kanavalla eri maista. – more poetic/marked.

For everyday neutral speech, stick with the original word order.

How would this sentence translate literally word-for-word into English?

Literal breakdown:

Kanavalla = on (the) channel
on = is / there is
jo = already
paljon = a lot (of)
tilaajia = subscribers (in partitive plural: some/any number of subscribers)
eri maista = from different countries

Very literal English: > “On the channel is already a lot of subscribers from different countries.”

Idiomatic English: > “The channel already has many subscribers from different countries.”

Is kanavalla singular or plural? How do I know?

Kanavalla is singular.

Reason:

Base word kanava = channel (singular).
Adessive singular ending is -lla/-llä:
- singular: kanavalla = on the channel
- plural: kanavilla = on the channels

So:

kanavalla = on the channel (one channel)
kanavilla = on the channels (many channels)

Your sentence talks about one specific channel.

Why is this structure used for “to have” in Finnish instead of a verb like “have”?

Finnish does not typically use a separate verb meaning “to have” the way English does (“to have” = omata exists but is rare and formal).

Instead, Finnish uses an existential/locative construction:

[Possessor in a local case (often adessive)] + on + [thing possessed]

Common pattern for possession:

Minulla on auto. → I have a car. (literally: At me / on me is a car.)
Koiralla on pallo. → The dog has a ball.
Kanavalla on tilaajia. → The channel has subscribers.

So “having” is expressed as “being at/on/with someone/something”.

Could I say Kanavalla on jo monia tilaajia eri maista instead of paljon tilaajia?

You can, but the nuance is slightly different.

paljon tilaajia = a lot of subscribers, many subscribers
- a more neutral, quantitative expression.
monia tilaajia = many subscribers (plural partitive of moni, “many”)
- also correct, but can sound a bit more counting/individual-oriented, or sometimes stylistically a bit more formal in some contexts.

Both are grammatically fine:

Kanavalla on jo paljon tilaajia eri maista.
Kanavalla on jo monia tilaajia eri maista.

Ordinary usage favors paljon tilaajia.

Why is tilaajia not marked for “from different countries”? Shouldn’t there be some extra ending on tilaajia too?

In tilaajia eri maista, the structure is:

tilaajia = subscribers (partitive plural)
eri maista = from different countries (adverbial phrase of origin)

Eri maista modifies the subscribers in meaning, but grammatically:

tilaajia carries the case required by paljon (partitive),
maista carries the case required by the meaning “from” (elative).

Finnish typically:

puts each word in the case it needs for its own role,
does not duplicate that case on the noun it’s logically connected to.

So we say:

tilaajia eri maista = subscribers from different countries
ihmisiä Suomesta = people from Finland
ystäväni koulusta = my friend from school

Only the source/origin word (maista, Suomesta, koulusta) takes the “from” case ending, not the main noun (tilaajia / ihmisiä / ystäväni).

Is eri an adjective like “different,” and does it change form?

Eri does mean “different”, but it’s invariable:

it does not change its form for case, number, or gender.

So you get:

eri maa = a different country
eri maassa = in a different country
eri maista = from different countries
eri ihmiset = different people
eri paikoissa = in different places

The case and number are marked on the noun, not on eri itself.