Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.

This backpack is very practical on weekdays.

Breakdown of Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• hyvin: very
• reppu: the backpack
• arkipäivinä: on weekdays
• käytännöllinen: practical

Questions & Answers about Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.

What is the difference between tämä, tuo, and se? Why is it Tämä reppu here?

Finnish has three common words that all translate as this/that in English, but they’re used slightly differently:

• tämä = this (right here, very close to me / the speaker)
• tuo = that (over there, visible but not right here)
• se = that / it (already known from context, or not physically pointed at)

In Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä, tämä suggests:

• you’re probably holding or touching the backpack, or
• you’re pointing at it, or
• it has just been introduced very concretely.

Compare:

• Tämä reppu on halpa. – This backpack (right here) is cheap.
• Tuo reppu on halpa. – That backpack (over there) is cheap.
• Se reppu on halpa. – That backpack (we already know which one) is cheap.

So tämä is natural if you’re literally indicating one specific backpack near you.

Why do we need the verb on? In English we also have “is”, but in some languages “is” can be dropped.

In standard Finnish, the verb olla (to be) is normally required in sentences like this.

• on is the 3rd person singular present form of olla: he/it is.
• Structure: [subject] + on + [adjective]
  → Tämä reppu on käytännöllinen.

You cannot say:

• ✗ Tämä reppu käytännöllinen arkipäivinä. (ungrammatical)

You must say:

• ✓ Tämä reppu on käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.

So here on works exactly like English is and is not normally omitted.

What exactly does hyvin mean here? Isn’t it “well”? Why does it mean “very”?

Literally, hyvin is the adverb form of hyvä (good), so it often means well:

• Hän puhuu hyvin suomea. – He/She speaks Finnish well.

But in colloquial and everyday Finnish, hyvin is also widely used as an intensifier meaning something like very, quite, or really:

• Se on hyvin kallis. – It’s very/quite really expensive.
• Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen. – This backpack is very practical.

Rough “strength” comparison:

• aika käytännöllinen – pretty practical
• hyvin käytännöllinen – very practical
• erittäin käytännöllinen – very / extremely practical (slightly more formal)
• tosi käytännöllinen – really practical (colloquial)

So here hyvin is not “practically well” but “very practical.”

Why is käytännöllinen in this form and not something like käytännöllistä?

Käytännöllinen is an adjective describing the subject tämä reppu. In sentences with olla (to be), this type of describing adjective normally appears in the nominative singular, agreeing with the subject in number:

• Reppu on käytännöllinen. – The backpack is practical.
• Reput ovat käytännöllisiä. – The backpacks are practical.
  (here käytännöllisiä is plural partitive, because the subject is plural)

In our sentence:

• Subject: tämä reppu (singular)
• Predicate adjective: käytännöllinen → nominative singular to match.

So:

• ✓ Tämä reppu on (hyvin) käytännöllinen.
• ✗ Tämä reppu on käytännöllistä. (wrong here; käytännöllistä would only be correct in some more advanced special contexts).

What does käytännöllinen literally mean and how is it formed?

Käytännöllinen means practical or handy.

Morphologically, it’s:

• käytäntö = practice (as opposed to theory)
• -llinen = a common adjective-forming suffix
  → “relating to / having the nature of”

So käytännöllinen ≈ practical (related to practice/use).

Other similar formations:

• luonto (nature) → luonnollinen – natural
• tiede (science) → tieteellinen – scientific

So Tämä reppu on käytännöllinen = This backpack is practical (good for everyday use).

What case is arkipäivinä, and what does that ending -nä mean?

Arkipäivinä is in the plural inessive case.

Breakdown:

• arki = weekday / working days (as opposed to weekend, holidays)
• päivä = day
• arkipäivä = a weekday (compound noun)
• plural stem: arkipäivi-
• inessive plural ending: -ssä/-ssä → changes to -issä and then to -inä because of vowel harmony and consonant changes in this word’s paradigm

Result: arkipäivinä ≈ on (the) weekdays.

The inessive case often expresses:

• location: talossa – in the house
• time: kesällä – in summer, viikonloppuna – on the weekend

Here arkipäivinä belongs to that “time” usage: during / on weekdays.

Why is it arkipäivinä (plural) when English says “on weekdays” with no plural ending?

English marks plurality with weekdays (an s), but the preposition on doesn’t show number.

Finnish, on the other hand, has no separate preposition on here; instead, it uses a case ending and often a plural to express a general, repeated time:

• maanantaina – on Monday (one specific Monday or Monday in general)
• maanantaisin – on Mondays (habitually)
• arkipäivänä – on a weekday / on a (single) weekday
• arkipäivinä – on weekdays (in general, on those days)

So arkipäivinä (plural) expresses all such days / in general, roughly “on (the) weekdays”. The plural makes the habitual/general meaning clear.

Could I also say arkipäivisin, arkisin, or arkena? What’s the difference?

Yes, there are several natural options, with slight nuance differences:

1. arkipäivinä

   • Plural inessive of arkipäivä
   • Very clear “on weekdays” (literally “in weekday-days”)
   • Neutral and common.

2. arkipäivisin

   • Adverbial form meaning on weekdays / on working days (habitually)
   • Emphasizes repeated, habitual action.
   • Very natural: Tämä reppu on kätevä arkipäivisin.

3. arkisin

   • From arki; means on weekdays (regularly) / during the working week
   • Very common in everyday speech:
     
     • Olen töissä arkisin. – I work on weekdays.

4. arkena

   • arki
     • -na (essive)
   • Means something like “in everyday life / in the workweek / on weekdays (as a general state)”.
   • More like a general contrast to weekends/holidays than a schedule expression.
   • Tämä reppu on kätevä arkena. → This backpack is handy in everyday life / during the week.

In your sentence, arkipäivinä, arkipäivisin, and arkisin would all be very natural, with only a slight nuance toward “habitually” for -sin forms.

Can I move arkipäivinä to the beginning, like Arkipäivinä tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is correct:

• Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.
• Arkipäivinä tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen.

Both are grammatical and mean essentially the same thing.

Difference in nuance:

• Original: neutral focus on this backpack; time phrase at the end.
• With arkipäivinä first: you are foregrounding the time; something like “As for weekdays, this backpack is very practical.”

Finnish word order is relatively flexible; moving adverbials (like time expressions) to the front often just shifts emphasis, not basic meaning.

Could I drop Tämä and just say Reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä? What would that imply?

Yes, grammatically that’s fine:

• Reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.

This sounds more like:

• “The backpack is very practical on weekdays,” where which backpack is already known from context (or you’re speaking about backpacks in general in a given situation).

With tämä reppu, you highlight a specific bag:

• Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä.
  → “This particular backpack is very practical on weekdays.”

Without tämä, it’s less pointing/deictic and more about a known or generic backpack.

Can I leave out hyvin and just say Tämä reppu on käytännöllinen arkipäivinä?

Yes. Both are correct:

• Tämä reppu on käytännöllinen arkipäivinä. – This backpack is practical on weekdays.
• Tämä reppu on hyvin käytännöllinen arkipäivinä. – This backpack is very practical on weekdays.

Leaving out hyvin removes the emphasis. The first sentence is more neutral; the second is stronger praise. Otherwise, the meaning is the same.

Why is arkipäivä written as one word and not arki päivä?

Finnish commonly forms compound nouns by joining words together:

• arki (weekday / workday life) + päivä (day) → arkipäivä (weekday)
• koulu (school) + kaveri (friend) → koulukaveri (school friend)
• tieto (information) + kone (machine) → tietokone (computer)

In arkipäivä, arki works like an adjective-ish element modifying päivä: “weekday” literally “workday-day”.

So:

• ✓ arkipäivä – correct single word
• ✗ arki päivä – would just look like two separate words “weekday-life day” and is wrong in standard writing in this meaning.

How do I pronounce ä and the double consonants like pp and nn in this sentence?

Key points:

1. ä

   • Pronounced like the a in English “cat”, “bad”.
   • In tämä, käytännöllinen, arkipäivinä it’s always that same front, open vowel.

2. Double consonants (pp, nn, ll)

   • They indicate length, not a different consonant.
   • You basically make the consonant sound a bit longer and cut the vowel before it a bit shorter.

Examples from the sentence:

• reppu
  
  • rep (short e) + ppu (long p)
  • Sort of like saying English “re” + “p-pack” but holding the p slightly longer.
• käytännöllinen
  
  • nn is held longer: käy-tän-nöl-li-nen (not käy-tä-nö-li-nen).
• käytännöllinen also has ll, which is likewise a longer /l/.

Length is meaningful in Finnish:

• tuli – fire
• tulli – customs
  So pronounce doubles clearly longer than singles.