Learn Hardcore Finnish: Lyhyt päiväuni auttaa minua jatkamaan opiskelua illalla. - A short nap helps me continue studying in the evening.

With people as objects, auttaa almost always takes the partitive:
- auttaa minua – to help me
- auttaa sinua – to help you
- auttaa heitä – to help them

Minä is the nominative subject form (I), and minut is the accusative (me as a total object, typically in contexts like “they chose me”). Here, “help” is directed at you as a person in a general way, so Finnish uses the partitive: minua.

What exactly is jatkamaan, and why not just jatkaa?

Jatkamaan is the 3rd infinitive in the illative case of the verb jatkaa (to continue). It often corresponds to English “in order to continue” / “to continue” in structures like this.

Basic verb: jatkaa (to continue)
3rd infinitive base: jatkama-
Illative ending: -an
→ jatkamaan (into continuing, to continue (doing))

With auttaa, it is very natural to use this form:

auttaa minua jatkamaan – helps me (so that I can) continue

Using just jatkaa would be ungrammatical in this structure. After auttaa in this meaning, Finnish prefers this 3rd infinitive illative form.

Why is it opiskelua and not opiskelu or opiskelun?

Opiskelua is the partitive singular of opiskelu (studying).

Here, jatkamaan opiskelua literally means “to continue studying”, and opiskelua refers to an ongoing, not-delimited activity. Finnish uses the partitive for:

processes and ongoing activities
things that are not seen as complete, whole events

Compare:

jatkan opiskelua – I continue (my) studying (ongoing, process)
lopetan opiskelun – I stop (my) studying (whole activity, now finished → genitive/accusative opiskelun)

So jatkamaan opiskelua fits the idea of “to go on with the activity of studying”, which calls for the partitive opiskelua.

Why does illalla mean “in the evening”? What case is this?

Illalla is the adessive case of ilta (evening).

ilta – evening (nominative)
illalla – on / in the evening (adessive)

Finnish commonly uses the adessive to express time when:

aamulla – in the morning
päivällä – in the daytime
iltapäivällä – in the afternoon
yöllä – at night

So illalla quite naturally means “in the evening” or “at night (in the evening time)”.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say: Lyhyt päiväuni illalla auttaa minua jatkamaan opiskelua?

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible, but it affects emphasis.

Original:

Lyhyt päiväuni auttaa minua jatkamaan opiskelua illalla.
→ Neutral: “A short nap helps me continue studying in the evening.”

Variation:

Lyhyt päiväuni illalla auttaa minua jatkamaan opiskelua.
→ Now illalla (in the evening) is more tightly connected to päiväuni:
“A short nap in the evening helps me continue studying.” (The nap happens in the evening.)

So:

At the end: …opiskelua illalla → emphasizes when you study.
Next to päiväuni: päiväuni illalla → emphasizes when you nap.

Both are grammatically correct but slightly different in meaning and focus.

Why is lyhyt in that form? Why not lyhyen or lyhyttä?

Lyhyt (short) is an adjective describing päiväuni (nap).

päiväuni in this sentence is the subject and is in the nominative singular.
Adjectives in Finnish agree with the noun in case and number.

So:

lyhyt päiväuni – a short nap (both nominative singular)
Not:
lyhyen päiväuni – would incorrectly put the adjective in genitive
lyhyttä päiväunia – would be partitive, which doesn’t match the subject role here

Because päiväuni is the subject in nominative, the correct form is lyhyt.

Why is päiväuni written as one word and not päivä uni?

Päiväuni is a compound noun: päivä (day) + uni (sleep). Together they form a fixed concept: “a daytime nap”.

In Finnish, when two nouns combine to express a single, more specific idea, they are usually written as one word:

päiväuni – daytime nap
käsilaukku – handbag (käsi + laukku)
kouluruoka – school lunch (koulu + ruoka)

If you wrote päivä uni as two words, it would sound like “day sleep” in a more literal, less idiomatic way. Native usage is strongly päiväuni as one word.

Could I say auttaa minua jatkamaan opiskelemista instead of opiskelua?

You can form opiskelemista (the 4th infinitive / action noun in partitive), and Finnish people will understand it, but in this sentence opiskelua is more natural and common.

jatkamaan opiskelua – to continue studying (very natural)
jatkamaan opiskelemista – to continue the activity of studying (grammatically OK, sounds more formal or heavy)

In everyday language, Finns prefer opiskelu / opiskelua over opiskelu-based infinitive nouns in this kind of pattern. So:

Keep jatkamaan opiskelua as the default choice.

How does auttaa work with infinitives like jatkamaan? Is there always a person in partitive?

With auttaa in the sense of helping someone to do something, Finnish typically uses:

The person helped in partitive
A 3rd infinitive (illative) for the action

Pattern:

auttaa
- (person in partitive)
  - (verb in 3rd infinitive illative)

Examples:

Pieni tauko auttaa minua rentoutumaan. – A small break helps me to relax.
Kahvi auttaa sinua pysymään hereillä. – Coffee helps you stay awake.

The person is almost always in partitive (minua, sinua, meitä, jne.), and the thing they are helped to do uses that -maan / -mään form (rentoutumaan, pysymään, jatkamaan, etc.).

Could I say this without minua, like Lyhyt päiväuni auttaa jatkamaan opiskelua illalla?

Yes, that is grammatically correct and also natural.

Lyhyt päiväuni auttaa jatkamaan opiskelua illalla.
→ “A short nap helps (one) to continue studying in the evening.”

Without minua, the sentence becomes more general and impersonal, similar to English “helps to continue studying” / “helps you/one keep studying” in a generic sense.

Including minua makes it explicitly personal:

auttaa minua – helps me
without minua – helps (in general / people in general)