Learn Hardcore Finnish: Mitä paremmaksi puutarha muuttuu, sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa. - The better the garden becomes, the more I want to spend time there reading.

Mitä paremmaksi puutarha muuttuu
≈ The better the garden becomes
sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa
≈ the more I want to spend time there reading.

This is a very common Finnish way to express linked comparisons (when one thing increases, another increases/decreases).

Why is it “mitä” and “sitä”, not mikä and se?

In this construction, mitä and sitä are in the partitive case:

mitä = partitive of mikä (“what”)
sitä = partitive of se (“it/that”)

This partitive pair mitä … sitä … is fixed in this comparative structure. You don’t change the case here; you always say:

Mitä
- comparative/adjective/adverb + clause,
  sitä
  - comparative/adjective/adverb + clause.

You wouldn’t say mikä paremmaksi, se enemmän; the idiomatic pattern is mitä … sitä ….

Why is it “paremmaksi” and not just “parempi”?

Paremmaksi is the translative case of the adjective parempi (“better”):

parempi = “better” (basic form)
paremmaksi = “into a better (state)”

The verb muuttua means “to change / become,” and it typically takes an adjective in the translative to describe what something changes into:

puutarha muuttuu paremmaksi = “the garden becomes better” / “changes into a better (garden).”

So you need the translative -ksi form after muuttua to show the result state of the change.

What’s the role of “muuttuu” here, and could you use a different verb?

Muuttuu is the 3rd person singular present of muuttua (“to change, to become”).

puutarha muuttuu paremmaksi = “the garden becomes better / improves.”

You could replace muuttuu with other verbs that describe becoming or improving, for example:

Mitä kauniimmaksi puutarha tulee, sitä enemmän…
(“The more beautiful the garden gets, the more…”)

But muuttua + translative is a very standard way to say “change into / become” something.

Why is “puutarha” in the nominative case and not in some other case?

Puutarha (“garden”) is the subject of the verb muuttuu, so it appears in the nominative singular:

puutarha muuttuu paremmaksi
= “the garden becomes better.”

There’s no reason for partitive or any other case here, because we’re not talking about “some of the garden” or treating it as an ongoing, unbounded object in the same way we would with an object of a verb. It’s just a simple subject–verb relationship.

What exactly does “enemmän” mean, and why is that form used?

Enemmän means “more (of something)” and is the comparative form of the adverb paljon (“much, a lot”).

paljon = much / a lot
enemmän = more

In this sentence:

sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa
= “the more I want to spend time …”

You use enemmän because we’re comparing amounts of wanting/spending time. You could think of it as “to a greater extent / in greater quantity.”

Why is it “aikaa” and not “aika”? What case is that?

Aikaa is the partitive singular of aika (“time”).

Many expressions about spending or using time take partitive, because time is seen as an unbounded quantity:

viettää aikaa = “to spend time”
kuluttaa aikaa = “to waste time”
olla hyvää aikaa = “to have plenty of time”

So haluan viettää aikaa literally is “I want to spend (some) time,” hence aikaa in the partitive.

What construction is “haluan viettää aikaa”? Why is viettää in that form?

This is a standard verb + infinitive construction expressing a desire to do something:

haluan = “I want”
viettää = basic (1st) infinitive of “to spend (time, a holiday, etc.)”
haluan viettää (jotakin) = “I want to spend (something).”

In Finnish, verbs like haluta (to want), aikoa (to intend), voida (can), etc. are typically followed by the basic infinitive form of another verb:

Haluan syödä. = I want to eat.
Haluan viettää aikaa. = I want to spend time.

What is “siellä” exactly, and why is it used instead of something like “siinä” or “tuolla”?

Siellä is a place adverb meaning “there (in that place)”. It refers to an area/location that is not right next to the speaker.

Rough distinctions:

tässä / täällä = here (very close, where the speaker is)
siinä / siellä = there (near the listener or previously mentioned, not with the speaker)
tuossa / tuolla = over there (more neutral or pointing)

In this sentence, siellä refers back to puutarha (“the garden”), which is a general location:

viettää aikaa siellä = “to spend time there (in that place / in the garden).”

You wouldn’t usually say siinä here, because siinä feels more like “right there (on that spot / that exact point),” whereas siellä fits better for “in that place/area (the garden).”

What form is “lukemassa”, and what does it express?

Lukemassa is the 3rd infinitive, inessive case of the verb lukea (“to read”).

3rd infinitive of lukea: lukemaan / lukemassa / lukemasta (same stem lukema-)
lukemassa (inessive) = “in the middle of reading / in the act of reading.”

In this context:

viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa
= “to spend time there (while) reading / engaged in reading.”

This -massa/-mässä form often expresses being in the middle of an activity, especially with verbs like olla, käydä, tulla, viettää aikaa, etc.:

Olen lukemassa. = I am reading (lit. I am in the act of reading).
Hän kävi uimassa. = He/She went (for) a swim (lit. went swimming).

Why not just use an English-style gerund, something like “lukemista” instead of “lukemassa”?

Lukemista is the partitive form of the 4th infinitive of lukea, and it tends to behave more like a noun-like “reading” (the activity as an abstract thing):

Rakastan lukemista. = I love reading.

In viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa, the speaker is emphasizing being engaged in the activity at that place. The 3rd infinitive in -massa/-mässä is a standard way to describe an ongoing concrete activity linked to another verb of motion, state, or time:

viettää aikaa lukemassa = spend time being in the act of reading
viettää aikaa lukemista would sound odd/unnatural here.

So you choose lukemassa to show “spending time there doing the activity,” not just referring to the activity in the abstract.

Could the word order be changed, for example: “Mitä paremmaksi puutarha muuttuu, sitä enemmän haluan siellä viettää aikaa lukemassa”?

Yes, that alternative word order is grammatical:

sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa
sitä enemmän haluan siellä viettää aikaa lukemassa

Finnish word order is relatively flexible. Moving siellä earlier slightly changes the emphasis:

Original: more neutral emphasis on “spending time (there) reading”.
With siellä earlier: a tiny bit more focus on the place “there.”

Both are natural; the given sentence is a very typical and clear order.

Is the comma after “muuttuu” necessary, and what does it separate?

Yes, the comma is standard and separates the two correlated clauses in the “Mitä … sitä …” structure:

Mitä paremmaksi puutarha muuttuu,
sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa.

Each part is its own clause:

“(The) more into a better state the garden becomes,”
“the more I want to spend time there reading.”

In written Finnish, these two clauses are almost always separated by a comma in this construction.

Could I say “Mitä parempi puutarha on, sitä enemmän…” instead of “Mitä paremmaksi puutarha muuttuu…”?

Yes, you can, and the meaning is very close:

Mitä parempi puutarha on, sitä enemmän haluan viettää aikaa siellä lukemassa.
≈ “The better the garden is, the more I want to spend time there reading.”

The nuance is:

muuttuu paremmaksi = emphasizes the process of becoming better (improving over time).
on parempi = describes the state of being better, without focusing on the change.

Both are correct; it just depends on whether you want to highlight the improvement process or just the level/quality.