Learn Hardcore Finnish: Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle on kampaaja torstai-iltana. - My other calendar entry for this week is the hairdresser on Thursday evening.

second calendar entry for this week (you have at least two, and this is number 2), or
another calendar entry for this week (you’ve already mentioned one, and now you’re mentioning an additional one).

If you really wanted to emphasize second in order, you could also say:

tämän viikon toinen kalenterimerkintäni – literally this week’s second calendar entry of mine.

If you wanted to emphasize another / an additional one, you might also use yksi toinen (one more / another one), depending on context, though in everyday speech toinen on its own is very common for both meanings.

What is going on in kalenterimerkintäni? Why is my stuck to the end of the word?

Kalenterimerkintäni breaks down like this:

kalenteri = calendar
merkintä = entry, marking
kalenterimerkintä = calendar entry (a compound noun)
-ni = my (possessive suffix)

So kalenterimerkintäni = my calendar entry.

In Finnish, possession can be expressed in two ways:

With a separate pronoun:
- minun kalenterimerkintäni
With just the possessive suffix:
- kalenterimerkintäni

Both are correct. Using both together (minun kalenterimerkintäni) is often slightly more emphatic, like my calendar entry (as opposed to someone else’s). In neutral sentences, the suffix alone (kalenterimerkintäni) is very common.

The possessive suffix always attaches to the end of the whole word, even with compounds:

puhelinnumeroni = my phone number
työpaikkani = my workplace
kalenterimerkintäni = my calendar entry

Why is it tälle viikolle instead of tällä viikolla? What’s the difference?

tällä viikolla (inessive) = during this week, this week (as a time when something happens)
tälle viikolle (allative) = for this week, intended/planned for this week

In your sentence:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle…
= Another/second calendar entry of mine *for this week…*

It emphasizes that this entry belongs in the schedule of this week or is scheduled for this week, not just that it happens during it.

Compare:

Minulla on paljon töitä tällä viikolla.
I have a lot of work this week. (happening during the week)
Minulla on kaksi tapaamista tälle viikolle.
I have two meetings scheduled for this week. (they are appointments for that week)

So tälle viikolle highlights the idea of assignment/scheduling to a time period.

Could we just say tällä viikolla instead? Would it change the meaning?

You could say:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tällä viikolla on kampaaja torstai-iltana.

It would still be understandable and natural. The nuance shifts slightly:

tälle viikolle – focuses more on what’s on my schedule for this week
tällä viikolla – focuses more on what is happening this week

In everyday speech, people might use either without a strong difference, but tälle viikolle fits especially well with the idea of entries in a calendar for that week.

What case is torstai-iltana, and what does the -na ending mean here?

Torstai-iltana is in the essive case (-na/-nä).

The essive case often has the basic meaning of:

as, in the role of, in the state of

But with times, essive commonly means “at/on (a particular part of a day)”. For example:

maanantaina = on Monday
lauantai-iltana = on Saturday evening
jouluaamuna = on Christmas morning

So torstai-iltana = on Thursday evening.

Other comparisons for time expressions:

torstaina illalla = on Thursday, in the evening (two separate words)
torstai-iltana = one combined concept, Thursday evening as a single time unit.

Both are correct, but torstai-iltana sounds like a more compact, fixed time expression.

Why is there a hyphen in torstai-iltana?

Finnish uses a hyphen when:

a compound word ends in a case ending, and
the compound would be hard to read without marking where the second word starts.

Here, torstai-ilta (Thursday evening) is a compound:

torstai = Thursday
ilta = evening
torstai-ilta = Thursday evening

Then we add essive -na to the whole compound:

torstai-ilta
- -na → torstai-iltana

The hyphen remains to keep the compound clear. Similarly:

kevätjuhlassa (at the spring party) – no hyphen, easier to read as one word
maanantai-aamuna (on Monday morning) – hyphen shows the boundary between maanantai and aamu.

Why is it on kampaaja? How can something be a hairdresser? Isn’t that a person, not an event?

Literally, kampaaja means hairdresser (person).

In context like this, Finnish often uses the person to stand for the appointment with that person. It’s a kind of shorthand:

Minulla on hammaslääkäri huomenna.
Literally: I have a dentist tomorrow.
Meaning: I have a dentist’s appointment tomorrow.
Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle on kampaaja torstai-iltana.
Literally: My second calendar entry for this week is hairdresser on Thursday evening.
Meaning: …is a hairdresser’s appointment on Thursday evening.

English usually adds appointment, but Finnish can just say kampaaja and rely on context.

You could make it explicit in Finnish too:

…on kampaaja-aika torstai-iltana. (hairdresser appointment)
…on aika kampaajalle torstai-iltana. (an appointment with the hairdresser)

But colloquially, kampaaja on its own is very natural.

Could we say kampaajalla instead of kampaaja?

Yes, you could say:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle on kampaajalla torstai-iltana.

Here:

kampaajalla = at the hairdresser’s (adessive case)

The nuance:

on kampaaja – focuses on the event/appointment (a hairdresser appointment)
on kampaajalla – focuses slightly more on being at the hairdresser’s place at that time

Both are natural, and in practice they can mean almost the same thing: you have a hairdresser appointment.

What case is kalenterimerkintäni in, and why?

Kalenterimerkintäni is in the nominative singular.

In the sentence:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle on kampaaja torstai-iltana.

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle is the subject of the sentence, and kampaaja is the predicative (a noun that describes the subject after on).

Both subject and predicative are in the nominative when you have a simple X is Y structure:

Tämä kirja on romaani. – This book is a novel.
Isoin ongelmani on aikapula. – My biggest problem is lack of time.
Toinen kalenterimerkintäni… on kampaaja… – My second calendar entry… is the hairdresser…

So kalenterimerkintäni stays nominative because it functions as the subject.

Could we change the word order, like Tälle viikolle toinen kalenterimerkintäni on kampaaja…?

Yes, Finnish word order is quite flexible. You can say:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle on kampaaja torstai-iltana. (neutral)
Tälle viikolle toinen kalenterimerkintäni on kampaaja torstai-iltana. (focus on for this week)
Kampaaja torstai-iltana on toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle. (focus on the kampaaja part)

All are grammatically fine. The differences are mostly about emphasis and what is presented first as “topic”:

Starting with Tälle viikolle… highlights the time frame.
Starting with Toinen kalenterimerkintäni… highlights the number/order of entries.
Starting with Kampaaja torstai-iltana… highlights the appointment itself.

In written standard Finnish, the original order is a very natural neutral choice.

Why do we say kalenterimerkintäni and not something like merkintä kalenterissani?

Both structures are possible in Finnish:

Compound noun + possessive suffix
- kalenterimerkintäni = my calendar entry
  Very compact and common.
Head noun + postpositional structure
- merkintä kalenterissani = an entry in my calendar

Your sentence could also be phrased as:

Toinen merkintä kalenterissani tälle viikolle on kampaaja torstai-iltana.

This is also correct, but kalenterimerkintäni is shorter and more idiomatic when you specifically mean a “calendar entry” as a concept. Both mean the same thing in practice; it’s mostly stylistic.

Why is there no word like a or the before kampaaja? How do I know if it’s a hairdresser or the hairdresser?

Finnish does not have articles like a/an or the. Nouns appear bare:

kissa can mean a cat or the cat
kampaaja can mean a hairdresser or the hairdresser

Which one you choose in English depends on context:

If you are just mentioning it for the first time, English usually uses a:
- kampaaja torstai-iltana → a hairdresser (appointment) on Thursday evening
If you and the listener already know which hairdresser you mean, you might translate it with the:
- kampaaja torstai-iltana → the hairdresser (appointment) on Thursday evening

Finnish leaves that distinction unmarked; speakers rely on shared knowledge and context.

Could we say Tämän viikon toinen kalenterimerkintäni on kampaaja torstai-iltana instead?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Tämän viikon toinen kalenterimerkintäni on kampaaja torstai-iltana.

The difference:

Toinen kalenterimerkintäni tälle viikolle…
– literally: My second calendar entry for this week
– stresses the idea of entries scheduled for this week.
Tämän viikon toinen kalenterimerkintäni…
– literally: This week’s second calendar entry of mine
– presents “this week” as a possessor, like in this week’s plan, this week’s schedule.

Both are natural. The original version sounds slightly more like talking about appointments assigned to a week, which fits nicely with the idea of calendar entries.