Learn Hardcore Finnish: Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi. - I want to become a better speaker of Finnish.

Physical coming:
- Tulen kotiin. = I come / I am coming home.
Becoming, turning into something (when followed by a complement in the -ksi form):
- Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi. = I want to become a better Finnish speaker.
- Hänestä tuli opettaja. = He/She became a teacher.

So here tulla is not about movement in space, but about a change of state: from your current level to “a better Finnish speaker”.

Why do both paremmaksi and puhujaksi end in -ksi? What is that ending?

The ending -ksi is the translative case.

Key idea: the translative often means “into / to become / as”, and it’s very common after verbs of change or becoming, such as tulla, muuttua, kehittyä, valita.

In this sentence:

paremmaksi = into (being) better
puhujaksi = into (being) a speaker

Together they form the result state:

tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi
= to become a better speaker of Finnish

Both words are in singular translative, because they are part of one predicate phrase describing what you will become.

How do you get paremmaksi from the basic adjective hyvä (“good”)?

Hyvä is irregular in comparison forms:

positive: hyvä = good
comparative: parempi = better
superlative: paras = best

From parempi, you then add case endings. For the translative:

comparative base: parempi
translative singular: paremmaksi

So the chain is:

hyvä → parempi → paremmaksi (in this sentence)

The double m in paremmaksi is just how comparative adjectives behave in many cases; you don’t have to memorize the full phonological rule at the start—just learn the correct form paremmaksi.

What is the literal, word‑for‑word breakdown of Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi?

Word by word:

Haluan = I want
- from haluta (to want), 1st person singular (the ending -n marks “I”).
tulla = to come / to become
- here: to become.
paremmaksi = into (being) better
- comparative of hyvä (good), in translative case.
suomen = of Finnish
- genitive of suomi (Finnish), like “of Finnish / of the Finnish language”.
puhujaksi = into (being) a speaker
- from puhuja (speaker), in translative case.

So literally:

Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi
≈ “I want to become into‑better Finnish‑(language) speaker.”

More natural English: I want to become a better Finnish speaker.

Why is it suomen and not suomi or suomea?

Suomen is the genitive form of suomi (“Finnish”), and here it works exactly like “of Finnish” in English:

suomen puhuja = a speaker of Finnish
englannin opettaja = a teacher of English
ranskankielinen kirja = a French‑language book (book of French language)

In this type of “X of Y” noun phrase, Finnish uses genitive Y:

suomen puhujaksi = into a speaker of Finnish

If you used:

suomi (nominative), it would not attach grammatically to puhuja.
suomea (partitive), that’s the usual form as a direct object of a verb (e.g. puhua suomea = to speak Finnish), not as an attribute before a noun.

So suomen is correct because it’s a noun (suomi) describing another noun (puhuja) in a genitive‑noun structure: [suomen] [puhuja] = Finnish speaker.

Could I say Haluan tulla parempi suomen puhuja instead? Would that be wrong?

In standard Finnish, that is not correct in this context.

With tulla in the sense of “become”, the complement that tells what you become is normally in the translative case (-ksi), not in the bare nominative:

Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi. ✅
Haluan tulla parempi suomen puhuja. ❌ (ungrammatical / clearly incorrect)

Compare:

Hänestä tuli opettaja. (nominative works here because hänestä already shows change)
But: Haluan tulla opettajaksi. (translative -ksi with tulla)

So when you use tulla + predicate directly (without something like hänestä in the elative), you should use -ksi:

tulla rikkaaksi = to become rich
tulla vahvaksi = to become strong
tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi = to become a better Finnish speaker

Could I say Haluan olla parempi suomen puhuja? How is that different from the original?

Yes, Haluan olla parempi suomen puhuja is grammatical and natural, but the nuance is slightly different:

Haluan olla parempi suomen puhuja.
- Literally: “I want to be a better Finnish speaker.”
- Focuses on the state you wish to have (“I wish I were better”).
Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi.
- “I want to become a better Finnish speaker.”
- Emphasises the process of improvement / change from your current level to a higher level.

In practice, both can be used when talking about self‑improvement, but tulla + -ksi makes the idea of development, progress more explicit.

Why is there no minä (I) in the sentence?

Finnish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

Haluan = I want
- The ending -n marks 1st person singular.
- So Haluan by itself already means “I want”.

You can add minä for emphasis or contrast:

Minä haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi.
- “I want to become a better Finnish speaker (as opposed to someone else).”

But in a neutral statement, leaving minä out is absolutely normal and usually preferred.

Can I change the word order, for example Haluan tulla suomen paremmaksi puhujaksi?

You should not say Haluan tulla suomen paremmaksi puhujaksi. That word order sounds unnatural or wrong to native speakers.

Inside the phrase describing what you become, the natural grouping is:

paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi
- paremmaksi modifies suomen puhujaksi (“into a better [Finnish speaker]”).

Putting suomen in front of paremmaksi would break that grouping and make it harder to parse.

Acceptable variations mainly affect sentence‑level word order (for emphasis), but you normally keep the noun phrase:

paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi

as a block. For example, with strong emphasis on the result, you could say:

Paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi haluan tulla.
(Still: paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi stays intact.)

So keep the original order:
Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi.

Is there a more common or natural way for Finns to express this idea?

Your sentence Haluan tulla paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi is correct and idiomatic, especially in more formal or careful speech.

In everyday conversation, Finns might also say things like:

Haluan oppia puhumaan suomea paremmin.
- I want to learn to speak Finnish better.
- Focuses on improving the skill of speaking.
Haluan puhua suomea paremmin.
- I want to speak Finnish better.
- Short and very common.
Haluan kehittyä paremmaksi suomen puhujaksi.
- I want to develop into a better Finnish speaker.
- Similar structure to your original, with kehittyä (to develop).

All of these are natural; they just highlight different aspects (the general ability vs. the process vs. the identity as a “Finnish speaker”). Your original sentence fits well in many contexts.