Learn Hardcore Finnish: Illalla tarkistan, kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut tänään. - In the evening I check how much screen time I have had today.

Illalla tarkistan, kuinka paljon…
Literally: In the evening, I check how much…
Starting with Illalla puts a little emphasis on when you do it.
Tarkistan illalla, kuinka paljon…
Literally: I check in the evening how much…
This sounds just as natural. The focus is slightly more on the action tarkistan (I check).

In Finnish, word order is quite flexible. Time expressions (like illalla, huomenna, tänään) often go at the beginning, but they can also go after the verb. There’s no strict “verb must be second” rule like in German; you use word order mostly for emphasis and flow, not for grammar.

What exactly is illalla, and how is it different from ilta or iltaisin?

ilta = evening (basic dictionary form, nominative singular)
illalla = in the evening / this evening / tonight
- Form: ilta
  - -lla (adessive case)
- Adessive here gives the meaning “at/in (a point in time)”.
iltaisin = in the evenings / in the evening(s) in general (habitually)

So:

Illalla tarkistan…
= This evening / in the evening (today) I will check…
Iltaisin tarkistan, kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut.
= In the evenings (as a habit), I check how much screen time I’ve had.

Use illalla for a specific evening (usually today or a known one), and iltaisin for a general repeated habit.

What case is ruutuaikaa, and why is it in that form?

Ruutuaikaa is in the partitive singular.

Base word: ruutuaika (screen time)
Partitive singular ending: -a/-ä
→ ruutuaika → ruutuaikaa

Why partitive?

After quantity expressions like:

kuinka paljon (how much)
paljon (a lot, much)
vähän (a little, some)

Finnish normally puts the counted thing in the partitive:

kuinka paljon vettä – how much water
paljon rahaa – a lot of money
vähän aikaa – a little time
kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa – how much screen time

So kuinka paljon basically “forces” the following noun into the partitive.

Could I say kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla oli tänään instead of on ollut?

You can, but there’s a nuance difference:

minulla on ollut tänään ruutuaikaa
= I have had screen time today.
This is present perfect. It connects the action to today, which is still ongoing. It matches English “I’ve had” very well.
minulla oli tänään ruutuaikaa
= I had screen time today.
This is simple past. It treats it more like a finished thing in a finished time frame (even though tänään is technically still today).

In practice:

Talking during the day about something that happened earlier today, on ollut is more natural.
Oli would feel more like you’re just reporting a past fact, slightly more detached from the present.

Both are grammatically correct; on ollut simply fits better with tänään in a “how much have I had today (so far)” sense.

What does minulla on ollut literally mean, and how is that different from olen ollut?

Breakdown:

minulla = on me (adessive form of minä, “I”)
on = is / has (3rd person singular of olla, “to be”)
ollut = been (past participle of olla)

So minulla on ollut is literally something like:

On me has been…
i.e. I have had…

In Finnish, possession is normally expressed with:

[owner in adessive] + on + [thing]
Minulla on puhelin. = I have a phone. (literally On me is a phone.)

For perfect tense ("have had") you add ollut:

Minulla on ollut paljon ruutuaikaa.
I have had a lot of screen time.

By contrast:

olen ollut = I have been
Here olen = I am / I have, and ollut = been.

Example:

Olen ollut väsynyt tänään.
= I have been tired today. (describes me being something)

So:

minulla on ollut ruutuaikaa → I have had screen time (possession)
olen ollut ruudun ääressä → I have been in front of a screen (state of “me”)

Why is it minulla and not minun?

Because Finnish uses a special structure for possession:

[Owner in adessive case] + on + [thing]

The owner is not in a possessive “my/your” form but in an “on me / at me” form.

minä = I (basic form)
minun = my (genitive, used before a noun: minun puhelimeni = my phone)
minulla = on me (adessive, used with olla to show possession)

So:

Minulla on ruutuaikaa.
I have screen time. (literally: On me is screen time.)
Minun ruutuaikani
my screen time (as a noun phrase)

In your sentence, you want a “have” structure, so you must use minulla, not minun.

Why is tarkistan in the present tense if English says I will check?

Finnish has no separate future tense. The present tense is used for:

present actions:
- Luennolla piirrän muistiinpanoja. – I am drawing notes in the lecture.
future actions (with some time word or context):
- Huomenna menen Helsinkiin. – Tomorrow I will go to Helsinki.
- Illalla tarkistan… – In the evening I will check…

The time adverb (here illalla) tells you that the action is in the future. So tarkistan covers both I check and I will check, depending on context.

Can the word order inside the clause change? For example, could I say kuinka paljon minulla on ollut ruutuaikaa tänään?

Yes, some word order variation is possible, but not all versions sound equally natural.

Most natural options:

kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut tänään
(what you have)
→ Emphasis follows the default “how much [of what] I have had today”.
kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa tänään minulla on ollut
→ Slightly stronger emphasis on today.
kuinka paljon minulla on ollut ruutuaikaa tänään
→ Focus moves a bit more to the possessor “I”, then specifies what I have had.

All three are understandable and grammatically fine. Native speakers would most often use version 1.

What you generally don’t do is split kuinka paljon from its noun in a strange way, like:

✗ kuinka minulla on ollut paljon ruutuaikaa tänään (ungrammatical here)

So keep kuinka paljon together and fairly close to ruutuaikaa.

What’s the difference between kuinka paljon and paljonko?

Both mean how much / how many, but the style and usage differ:

kuinka paljon
- slightly more neutral or formal
- often used inside longer sentences and indirect questions:
  - En tiedä, kuinka paljon aikaa minulla on.
    I don’t know how much time I have.
paljonko
- more colloquial and often used in direct questions:
  - Paljonko kello on? – What time is it?
  - Paljonko ruutuaikaa sinulla on ollut tänään? – How much screen time have you had today?

In your sentence, because it’s an embedded clause (I check how much…), kuinka paljon feels very natural:

Illalla tarkistan, kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut tänään.

You could turn it into a direct question as:

Kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut tänään?
or
Paljonko ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut tänään?

Both of those are fine as standalone questions.

What exactly does ruutuaika mean? Is it specifically “screen time”?

Yes, ruutuaika is the standard term for screen time, especially in health, education, and digital wellbeing contexts.

ruutu = screen (also “square” or “panel” in other contexts)
aika = time

Together: ruutuaika = the time you spend in front of screens (phone, tablet, computer, TV, etc.)

Examples:

Liikaa ruutuaikaa ei ole hyväksi lapsille.
Too much screen time is not good for children.
Yritän vähentää ruutuaikaani.
I’m trying to reduce my screen time.

In your sentence, ruutuaikaa in the partitive refers to an amount of that time.

If I want to say “In the evenings I check how much screen time I’ve had”, should I still use illalla, or something else?

For a habitual action (“in the evenings in general”), you normally use:

iltaisin = in the evenings (regularly)
or a phrase like joka ilta = every evening

So you’d say:

Iltaisin tarkistan, kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut.
= In the evenings I check how much screen time I’ve had.

Joka ilta tarkistan, kuinka paljon ruutuaikaa minulla on ollut.

Illalla tarkistan… by itself usually refers to this evening / tonight (a specific evening, often today), not to a regular habit.