Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minusta tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja. - In my opinion ordinary everyday life with family is the best gift.

Minusta tämä elokuva on hyvä. = I think this movie is good.
Minusta kahvi on parempaa kuin tee. = In my opinion, coffee is better than tea.

So the literal sense is out of me → from my point of view, and idiomatically: I think / in my opinion.

You cannot say *Minä tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja in this meaning. You need Minusta (or something like Minun mielestäni) to introduce the opinion.

What is the difference between Minusta and Minun mielestäni?

Both mean in my opinion, but:

Minusta is shorter and very common in speech and writing.
Minun mielestäni is a bit more explicit (literally in my opinion / in my view).

Examples:

Minusta tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.
Minun mielestäni tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.

Both are correct and mean the same thing. Minusta can sound slightly more casual or neutral; Minun mielestäni can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, but the difference is small.

Why is it tavallinen arki, not tavallista arkea?

This is about the case of the subject complement (predicative).

The pattern is:

[Subject] + on + [predicative in nominative]

Here, the subject is tavallinen arki perheen kanssa and the predicative is paras lahja.

Because the statement is about a whole, general thing (ordinary everyday life with the family, as a complete concept), Finnish uses the nominative:

Tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.

If you wanted to talk about some amount or a non‑complete thing, you might use the partitive, but that would also change the meaning and structure. In this type of equative sentence with on, the normal, neutral form is nominative arki rather than partitive arkea.

What exactly does arki mean here? Is it just weekday?

Arki literally refers to everyday life / ordinary days, as opposed to special occasions, holidays, or celebrations.

Nuances:

arki = the routine of daily life (work, school, chores, family life, etc.)
It does not just mean weekday in a calendar sense, although arki is often contrasted with juhla (celebration) or viikonloppu (weekend).

So tavallinen arki perheen kanssa is something like:

ordinary everyday life with (the) family
the normal day‑to‑day life with your family

It emphasizes normality and routine, not special events.

Why is it perheen kanssa and not perheeni kanssa if the meaning is with my family?

Finnish often leaves the possessor implicit when it is obvious from context, especially with very close relationships (family, home, parents, etc.).

perheen kanssa = with (the) family
In a context where the speaker is talking about themself, it is naturally understood as with my family.

You could say perheeni kanssa (with my family), and it is grammatically correct, but it slightly shifts the tone:

perheen kanssa – more neutral/general, but usually interpreted as my family here.
perheeni kanssa – more explicitly personal/possessive, sometimes a bit more formal or emphatic.

Both are acceptable; perheen kanssa is very natural in this kind of sentence.

Why does perhe become perheen in perheen kanssa?

Perheen is the genitive form (ownership/association form) of perhe (family).

The structure here is:

[noun in genitive] + kanssa = with [that noun]

So:

perhe → perheen kanssa = with (the) family
ystävä → ystävän kanssa = with a/the friend
lapset → lasten kanssa = with the children

This is a regular pattern: when you use kanssa (with), the noun before it is almost always in the genitive.

What does kanssa do in this sentence? Can its position change?

Kanssa means with (in the sense of together with someone/something).

The construction:

perheen kanssa = with (the) family
It functions as an adverbial phrase modifying tavallinen arki: everyday life (spent) with the family.

Word order:

You cannot separate perheen and kanssa in normal Finnish.
*perheen tavallinen arki kanssa is incorrect.
The phrase perheen kanssa can move as a whole:
- Minusta tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.
- Minusta perheen kanssa tavallinen arki on paras lahja. (less typical, but possible)

But perheen and kanssa must stay together.

Why is it on paras lahja, not something like on parhaan lahjan?

This is again about the predicative:

[Subject] + on + [predicative in nominative]

Here:

Subject: tavallinen arki perheen kanssa
Predicative: paras lahja (the best gift)

The predicative is normally in nominative (here paras lahja), not in the genitive or partitive, because the sentence states an identity or classification: Ordinary everyday life … *is the best gift.*

You would use parhaan lahjan in other structures, for example:

Sain sinulta parhaan lahjan. = I got the best gift from you.
(Here parhaan lahjan is an object, not a predicative.)

Does paras lahja mean the best gift or a best gift? How do articles work here?

Finnish has no articles (no a/an or the). The phrase paras lahja is ambiguous in itself; the exact English translation depends on context.

In this sentence, natural English is:

the best gift

because the speaker is making a general, strong evaluation: ordinary everyday life with the family is the best possible gift.

Other contexts:

Tämä on paras lahja, jonka olen saanut.
→ This is the best gift I have received.

If needed, Finnish can use other means (word order, context, demonstratives like se, tämä) to make definiteness clear, but there is no direct article.

Can I move Minusta to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Minusta is an adverbial that can move quite freely. Common options:

Minusta tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.
Tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on minusta paras lahja.

Both mean the same: In my opinion, ordinary everyday life with the family is the best gift.

Placing Minusta at the beginning is slightly more typical in writing; putting it later (on minusta paras lahja) can sound a bit more conversational or emphatic on the opinion part.

Could I leave Minusta out and still have a correct sentence?

Yes, grammatically:

Tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.

This becomes a general statement, not explicitly marked as opinion. It sounds like a proverb or a strong assertion: Ordinary everyday life with the family is the best gift.

Adding Minusta signals clearly that this is my personal opinion:

Minusta tavallinen arki perheen kanssa on paras lahja.
→ I think that … / To me, …

How do the adjectives tavallinen and paras agree with the nouns?

In Finnish, adjectives agree in case and number with the nouns they modify.

Here:

tavallinen arki
- tavallinen (ordinary) + arki (everyday life)
- Both are singular nominative.
paras lahja
- paras (best) + lahja (gift)
- Both are singular nominative.

If you changed the case or number of the noun, the adjective would change too:

tavallisen arjen (genitive)
parasta lahjaa (partitive)
tavallisessa arjessa (inessive: in ordinary everyday life)
parhat lahjat (colloquial for parhaat lahjat, plural nominative: the best gifts)

In the given sentence, nominative is used because both noun phrases function as subject and predicative.