Opiskellessani suomea yksin yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan.

Opiskellessani is a verb in the 2nd infinitive, inessive case, with a personal (possessive) suffix.

• Basic verb: opiskella = to study
• 2nd infinitive inessive ending: -essa / -essä (means while doing / when doing)
• With -ni at the end for “my” / “I” (1st person singular)

So:

• opiskella → opiskellessa = while studying / when (someone) is studying
• opiskellessani = while I am studying / when I study

Functionally, opiskellessani suomea means something like:

• While I am studying Finnish
• When I study Finnish

They are very close in meaning, but slightly different in style and structure.

• Opiskellessani suomea (yksin)

  • More compact, somewhat more formal/written style.
  • Uses the infinitive construction.
  • Literally: while studying Finnish (by myself).

• Kun opiskelen suomea yksin

  • Very natural in spoken Finnish and also fine in writing.
  • Uses a normal finite verb opiskelen (I study).
  • Literally: when I study Finnish alone.

In your full sentence, you could say:

• Opiskellessani suomea yksin yritän olla…
• Kun opiskelen suomea yksin, yritän olla…

Both are correct. The opiskellessani version just sounds slightly more bookish or formal, but it is very common in written Finnish.

Because opiskella (to study) normally takes its object in the partitive case when you talk about studying a language or a subject in general.

• opiskella suomea = to study Finnish (in general, not a specific “piece” of it)
• opiskella matematiikkaa = to study mathematics

So:

• suomi = nominative (dictionary form)
• suomea = partitive (here: some Finnish / Finnish as a subject)

Using suomi in this position (*opiskella suomi) would be incorrect. The partitive suomea is simply the normal, idiomatic form after opiskella for languages.

Yksin is an adverb meaning “alone / by oneself”.

• Opiskelen yksin. = I study alone.
• Olen yksin kotona. = I’m alone at home.

It does not change its form to agree with number or case like an adjective would. It always stays yksin.

There is also a more emphatic or stylistically different option yksinäni (by myself, on my own), but yksin is the everyday, neutral choice. In your sentence, yksin is perfect and the most natural option.

In Finnish, yrittää (to try) is followed by the 1st infinitive of the next verb, not a finite form.

The pattern is:

• yrittää + [basic infinitive]

Examples:

• Yritän olla kärsivällinen. = I try to be patient.
• Yritän oppia suomea. = I try to learn Finnish.
• Yritän herätä aikaisin. = I try to wake up early.

So:

• olla = to be (infinitive) → correct after yritän
• olen = I am (finite verb), so *yritän olen is ungrammatical.

Mahdollisimman kärsivällinen means “as patient as possible”.

Mahdollisimman is used in Finnish to form “as … as possible” expressions:

• mahdollisimman nopeasti = as quickly as possible
• mahdollisimman hyvin = as well as possible
• mahdollisimman pitkään = as long as possible
• mahdollisimman kärsivällinen = as patient as possible

So your phrase:

• yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen
  → I try to be as patient as possible.

A more literal but less common alternative would be niin kärsivällinen kuin mahdollista, which also means as patient as possible, but mahdollisimman + adjective/adverb is the standard, compact way.

After the verb olla (to be), predicates (adjectives and nouns that describe the subject) are usually in the nominative case when they refer to the subject.

• Minä olen kärsivällinen. = I am patient.
• Hän on opettaja. = He/She is a teacher.
• Opiskellessani suomea… yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen.
  = …I try to be as patient as possible.

So kärsivällinen is nominative, agreeing with the subject minä (I), even though minä is only implied.

You would use kärsivällistä (partitive) in different structures, for example:

• Tarvitsen kärsivällistä opettajaa. = I need a patient teacher. (object)

Itseäni kohtaan literally means “towards myself”.

Breakdown:

• itse = self
• itseä = partitive singular of itse
• -ni = my / me (1st person suffix)
• → itseäni = myself in the partitive case
• kohtaan = a postposition meaning towards

The postposition kohtaan always takes the partitive:

• rakkautta lapsiaan kohtaan = love towards their children
• viha minua kohtaan = hatred towards me
• kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan = patient towards myself

So the partitive itseäni is required by kohtaan.

Yes, you could say minua kohtaan, but itseäni kohtaan is more natural here.

• minua kohtaan = towards me (straightforward me as an object)
• itseäni kohtaan = towards myself in a more reflexive, self-directed sense

In your sentence the idea is about how you treat yourself, not just how someone treats you:

• yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan
  → I try to be as patient as possible towards myself.

Itseäni kohtaan emphasizes that you are both the subject and the target of that patience – it has a clear “self-compassion / self-attitude” nuance.

You can definitely say:

• Opiskellessani suomea yksin yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen.

That means simply:

• When I study Finnish alone, I try to be as patient as possible.

Without itseäni kohtaan, the sentence is more general — it could mean patient in general (with the process, with mistakes, with time, with others, etc.).

Adding itseäni kohtaan clarifies that the patience is directed specifically towards yourself:

• …kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan = patient with myself / towards myself

So itseäni kohtaan is not grammatically required, but it adds a clear, specific nuance.

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and you can move elements to change emphasis slightly without breaking the grammar.

Some possible variants:

• Opiskellessani suomea yksin yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan.
  (neutral: studying Finnish alone, I try to be patient with myself)

• Opiskellessani yksin suomea yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan.
  (slight emphasis on alone coming earlier)

• Kun opiskelen suomea yksin, yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan.
  (using kun

  • finite verb instead of opiskellessani)

All of these are correct. The original order is very natural and clear. Word order changes typically affect focus and style, not basic grammatical correctness.

You can say itseni kanssa, and it is also idiomatic, but it is slightly different in nuance.

• itseäni kohtaan = towards myself

  • more about your attitude or feelings directed at yourself
  • e.g., being fair, kind, patient towards yourself

• itseni kanssa = with myself

  • more about how you “get along” with yourself, how you “are with yourself”
  • often used in expressions like olla sinut itsensä kanssa = to be at peace with oneself

So:

• yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseäni kohtaan
  → I try to be as patient as possible towards myself.

• yritän olla mahdollisimman kärsivällinen itseni kanssa
  → I try to be as patient as possible with myself.

In many contexts they overlap, but itseäni kohtaan is the more straightforward choice here for the idea of being patient towards yourself as a learner.