Learn Hardcore Finnish: Sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla. - I light a candle in the living room in the evening.

Sytytän kynttilän… = “I light a candle…”
If you add minä (Minä sytytän kynttilän…), it is correct but usually more emphatic, like “I (as opposed to someone else) light the candle.”

What is the difference between sytytän and sytyttää?

Sytyttää is the basic dictionary form (the infinitive), meaning “to light / to ignite (something).”

Sytytän is that verb conjugated:

verb stem: sytyttä-
personal ending: -n (1st person singular, present tense)

So:

sytyttää = “to light”
sytytän = “I light”

Other forms:

sytytät = you (sg) light
sytyttää = he/she lights
sytytämme = we light
sytytätte = you (pl) light
sytyttävät = they light

Why is it kynttilän and not kynttilä? What is that -n?

The base word is kynttilä = “candle.”

In the sentence you have kynttilän. The -n here marks the genitive case, which is used for the total object in this sentence. A “total object” means the action affects the whole thing and is seen as complete.

Sytytän kynttilän.
→ I light the whole candle / the candle (completely).

So:

kynttilä = “a candle” (nominative, dictionary form)
kynttilän = “the candle” as a complete object of the action

When would I say kynttilän vs kynttilää?

Both can be objects, but they express different aspect:

kynttilän = genitive, total object
→ the action is complete / aims at the whole object.
kynttilää = partitive, partial object
→ the action is incomplete, ongoing, repeated, or only affects part of something.

Examples:

Sytytän kynttilän.
“I (will) light the candle (completely).” – you intend to finish lighting it.
Sytytän kynttilää.
“I am lighting the candle.” – focuses on the process; maybe it’s not finished, or context makes it open‑ended.

In your sentence, sytytän kynttilän presents a normal, completed action: you light (a) candle fully.

What does the ending -ssa in olohuoneessa mean?

Olohuone = “living room.”

The form olohuoneessa adds the inessive case ending -ssa, which roughly means “in / inside”:

olohuoneessa = “in the living room”

So the structure is:

olohuone (living room)
- -ssa (inessive “in”)
  → olohuoneessa (“in the living room”)

Why is it -ssa and not -ssä in olohuoneessa?

The choice between -ssa and -ssä follows vowel harmony:

Words with back vowels (a, o, u) → use back suffix: -ssa
Words with only front vowels (ä, ö, y, e, i) → use front suffix: -ssä

Olohuone contains back vowels o, o, u, so it gets -ssa:

olohuone → olohuoneessa (“in the living room”)

If the word had only front vowels, you would see -ssä, e.g.:

pöytä → pöydässä (“on/at the table”)

What is the difference between olohuoneessa and olohuoneeseen?

Both are location forms but express different directions:

olohuoneessa – inessive: “in the living room”
→ state/location inside
olohuoneeseen – illative: “into the living room”
→ movement into the room

Compare:

Sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa.
“I light a candle in the living room.” (you are already there)
Vien kynttilän olohuoneeseen ja sytytän sen siellä.
“I take the candle into the living room and light it there.”

Why is it illalla and not ilta or illassa?

The base word is ilta = “evening.”

In illalla you have the adessive case (-lla), which is very often used to express “at a (time)”:

illalla = “in the evening / at nightfall”

So:

ilta – evening (basic form)
illalla – in the evening (time expression)
illassa would literally be “in the evening” in a spatial sense, which is not how Finnish normally talks about time. For time, illalla is the natural form.

Other time examples with adessive:

aamulla – in the morning (from aamu)
päivällä – in the daytime (from päivä)
yöllä – at night (from yö)

Can I change the word order, like “Illalla sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa”? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order quite freely in Finnish, because cases show who does what. The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis can change.

Your original:

Sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla.
Neutral; first you say what you do, then where, then when.

Variants:

Illalla sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa.
Emphasises “in the evening” – you’re telling when more prominently.
Olohuoneessa sytytän kynttilän illalla.
Emphasises “in the living room” – perhaps contrasting it with other rooms.

All are grammatically fine and mean essentially “I light a candle in the living room in the evening,” with slightly different focus.

How would I say this in the past tense: “I lit a candle in the living room in the evening”?

You keep the cases the same and change only the verb tense.

Present:

Sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla.
“I light a candle in the living room in the evening.”

Past (simple past / imperfect):

Sytytin kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla.
“I lit a candle in the living room in the evening.”

Change:

sytytän → sytytin (1st person singular past)
kynttilän, olohuoneessa, illalla stay the same.

How do I say “I will light a candle…” in Finnish? Is there a future tense?

Finnish does not have a separate future tense form. The present tense covers both present and future, and context (or time words) shows that it’s future.

So “I will light a candle in the living room in the evening” is normally:

Sytytän kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla.

Because of illalla (“in the evening”), it is naturally understood as a future plan. If you really want to stress intention, you might add a verb like aion (“I intend to”):

Aion sytyttää kynttilän olohuoneessa illalla.
“I intend to light a candle in the living room in the evening.”

How should I pronounce the double consonants like tt in sytytän and kynttilän?

In Finnish, double consonants are really held longer than single ones. This length difference can change meaning, so it’s important.

sytytän: pronounce the tt as a longer t sound: sy-tyt-tän
kynttilän: similarly kynt-ti-län

Think of it as slightly “pausing” on the t:

syt-y-tan (short t) – wrong
sy-tyt-tan (long t) – correct

Length is phonemic in Finnish (it changes word meaning), so practising the long vs short consonants and vowels is essential.