Learn Hardcore Finnish: Kun yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta, mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi. - When I cross out the finished items from the list, my state of mind becomes more positive.

yliviivaan = I cross off (1st person singular, present tense)
If you add minä, it becomes more emphatic: Minä yliviivaan... = I (myself) cross off...

So the sentence is perfectly natural without minä; it’s the default way to say it.

Does kun here mean “when” or “whenever”? Is it about one time or a general habit?

Kun can mean both “when” (one specific time) and “whenever” (a general rule). In the present tense like this, it usually describes a general, habitual situation:

Kun yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta, mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi.
→ Whenever I cross off the completed items from the list, my mood becomes more positive.

Context would decide whether we understand it as a one-time situation or a general habit, but grammatically both are possible.

What exactly does yliviivaan mean, and how is it formed?

yliviivaan is the 1st person singular present form of the verb yliviivata.

yli = over
viiva = line
→ yliviivata = to draw a line over something → to cross out / strike through

Forms:

minä yliviivaan – I cross out
sinä yliviivaat – you cross out
hän yliviivaa – he/she crosses out

You might also hear everyday synonyms:

vetää yli (to draw over)
ruksata (to tick off / mark with an X)

What are valmiit and kohdat grammatically, and why are both of them in the plural?

kohta = point, item, section
kohdat = plural nominative/accusative → “the items / the points”
valmis = ready, finished
valmiit = plural nominative/accusative → “ready / finished (ones)”

Here valmiit is an adjective describing kohdat, so they agree in:

number: both plural
case: both nominative/accusative

So valmiit kohdat literally means “the ready / finished items.”

Why is it valmiit kohdat and not valmiita kohtia? What’s the difference?

This is about the object case in Finnish: total vs partial object.

valmiit kohdat → total object
- Implies you cross off all the completed items in question.
- Clear, bounded set.
valmiita kohtia → partitive (partial) object
- Would suggest you’re crossing off some completed items, not necessarily all.
- More open‑ended, unbounded.

In your sentence, the idea is that each time you do this, you cross off the completed ones as a whole set, so valmiit kohdat (total object) fits best.

What case is listasta, and why is that case used instead of something like listan or listalla?

listasta is in the elative case (ending -sta / -stä), which often means “out of / from inside something.”

lista = a list
listan = of the list (genitive)
listalla = on the list (adessive: on / at the list)
listasta = from the list (elative: out of / from inside the list)

When you cross items off a list, you’re taking them from that list, so listasta (“from the list”) is the natural choice:

yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta
→ I cross off the completed items from the list.

What does mielentila literally mean, and why isn’t there something like minun mielentilani (my state of mind)?

mielentila is a compound noun:

mieli = mind, mood
tila = state, condition

So mielentila = “state of mind / mental state.”

Finnish often leaves out possessive pronouns when the owner is obvious from context. Here, since yliviivaan is 1st person singular, it’s naturally understood that we are talking about my mental state.

You could say:

mielentilani muuttuu... = my state of mind changes...
minun mielentilani muuttuu... = my state of mind changes... (extra emphasis on my)

But in everyday Finnish, simply mielentila muuttuu... is very normal and still understood as “my state of mind changes” from context.

Why is it muuttuu and not muutan? What’s the difference between muuttua and muuttaa?

muuttua = to change, to become (intransitive: something changes by itself)
muuttaa = to change something (transitive: you change something else), or “to move house”

In the sentence, the mental state is changing by itself, as a result of the action:

mielentila muuttuu = the state of mind changes / becomes different

If you said:

muutan mielentilaa = I change (someone’s) mental state

that implies you are actively changing somebody’s mental state as a direct object, which is not the intended meaning here.

What form is myönteisemmäksi, and how is it built from myönteinen?

myönteinen = positive, favorable

Two things happen to get myönteisemmäksi:

Comparative of the adjective (more X):
- myönteinen → myönteisempi = more positive
Translative case -ksi on that comparative:
- myönteisempi → myönteisemmäksi

So myönteisemmäksi = “into a more positive (state)”.
The -mm- in myönteisemmäksi is a regular consonant-gradation effect when adding case endings to the comparative form.

What does the -ksi ending (translative) mean in myönteisemmäksi, and why is it used with muuttuu?

The translative case (-ksi) often expresses a change of state: “into / to become X”.

Common patterns:

tulla X‑ksi = to become X
muuttua X‑ksi = to change into X

So:

mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi
= the state of mind changes into a more positive (one) → becomes more positive

That’s why muuttua is very often followed by a noun or adjective in -ksi: it marks the resulting state after the change.

Why is it myönteisemmäksi (more positive) instead of just myönteiseksi (positive)?

Both are grammatically correct, but they mean slightly different things:

myönteiseksi (positive) – state becomes positive, with no comparison implied.
myönteisemmäksi (more positive) – state becomes more positive than before; it’s about improvement.

In context, we usually mean the mood was already something, and then it becomes more positive when you cross items off the list, so the comparative myönteisemmäksi fits the meaning nicely.

Can I change the word order, like Mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi, kun yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is completely correct and natural.

Finnish allows quite flexible word order, especially with clauses introduced by kun:

Kun yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta, mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi.
Mielentila muuttuu myönteisemmäksi, kun yliviivaan valmiit kohdat listasta.

Both mean the same thing. The only difference is emphasis:

Starting with Kun yliviivaan... emphasizes the condition/action.
Starting with Mielentila muuttuu... emphasizes the result (the change in mood).