Torstai-iltaisin katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa.

On Thursday evenings I watch a Finnish TV series.

Breakdown of Torstai-iltaisin katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa.

• minä: I
• katsoa: to watch
• suomenkielinen: Finnish-language
• televisiosarja: the TV series
• torstai-iltaisin: on Thursday evenings

Questions & Answers about Torstai-iltaisin katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa.

What does the ending -iltaisin in torstai-iltaisin mean, and how is it different from torstai-iltana?

The ending -isin is an adverbial ending that means “on Xs / on X evenings / regularly at X time.”

• torstai-iltaisin ≈ “on Thursday evenings (as a habit, repeatedly)”
• torstai-iltana ≈ “on Thursday evening (on a particular Thursday evening)”

So torstai-iltaisin expresses a repeated or habitual action, while torstai-iltana refers to one specific evening.

Why is Torstai capitalized here? Are days of the week normally capitalized in Finnish?

Days of the week in Finnish are normally not capitalized.

It is capitalized here only because it is the first word of the sentence.
If it were in the middle of a sentence, you would write torstai-iltaisin, with a lowercase t.

Why is the subject pronoun minä (“I”) missing before katson?

Finnish usually omits personal pronouns when they’re clear from the verb ending.

• katson already tells you “I watch / I am watching” (1st person singular).
• You can add minä katson for emphasis (e.g. “I watch”), but it isn’t needed in neutral sentences.

So Torstai-iltaisin katson ... is the most natural version in everyday Finnish.

Why is it katson and not the dictionary form katsoa?

katsoa is the infinitive form (“to watch”).
To say “I watch,” Finnish conjugates the verb:

• stem: katso-
• 1st person singular ending: -n

→ katson = “I watch / I am watching.”

Finnish uses this same present tense form for both English “I watch” and “I am watching.”

Why is televisiosarjaa in the partitive case and not televisiosarja?

televisiosarjaa is the partitive singular form of televisiosarja.

Here, the partitive is used because:

• The watching is ongoing / habitual, not a single, completed event.
• You are not talking about “watching the whole series from start to finish” at one time, but rather some of it, regularly.

If you said:

• Katson suomenkielisen televisiosarjan.
  that would suggest watching one whole series from beginning to end (a completed whole), which does not fit a habitual sentence.

Why is suomenkielistä also in the partitive?

suomenkielistä is an adjective agreeing with the noun televisiosarjaa.

• Base adjective: suomenkielinen (“Finnish-language, in Finnish”)
• Partitive singular: suomenkielistä

In Finnish, adjectives usually agree in case and number with the noun they describe.
Since televisiosarjaa is partitive singular, the adjective must also be partitive singular: suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa.

What is the difference between suomenkielinen and suomalainen?

• suomenkielinen = “Finnish-language,” literally “Finnish-tongued.”

  • suomenkielinen televisiosarja = a TV series in the Finnish language, regardless of where it’s made.

• suomalainen = “Finnish” in the sense of from Finland / Finnish by nationality or origin.

  • suomalainen televisiosarja = a TV series from Finland, made by Finns. It could in theory be dubbed into another language.

Your sentence stresses that the series is in Finnish, so suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa is the right choice.

Could I also say Katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa torstai-iltaisin? Does the word order change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is also correct:

• Torstai-iltaisin katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa.
• Katson suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa torstai-iltaisin.

Both mean the same thing.

Placing torstai-iltaisin at the beginning puts a bit more emphasis on the time (“On Thursday evenings, I watch…”). Placing it at the end is slightly more neutral. But the difference is minor; both are very natural.

Why is there a hyphen in torstai-iltaisin? Could it be written as one word?

torstai-ilta is a compound meaning “Thursday evening.” With the habitual -isin ending, it becomes torstai-iltaisin.

You will see both:

• torstai-iltaisin (with a hyphen)
• torstai-iltaisin (as one long word)

Current recommendations generally prefer writing such compounds as one word (e.g. torstai-iltaisin), but the hyphenated form is still common and understood. Textbooks often keep the hyphen to make the parts clearer to learners.

Is there any article like “a” or “the” in suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa?

Finnish has no articles (“a,” “an,” “the”).

The phrase suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa can correspond to:

• “a Finnish(-language) TV series”
• “the Finnish(-language) TV series”
• just “Finnish(-language) TV series” in general

Which one feels right in English depends on context, not on any special word or ending in Finnish.

Does katson here mean “I watch” or “I am watching”?

In Finnish, the same present tense form covers both:

• “I watch” (habitual)
• “I am watching” (right now)

In this sentence, because you also have torstai-iltaisin (“on Thursday evenings”), the meaning is clearly habitual: “I (usually) watch on Thursday evenings.”

What exactly does televisiosarja mean? How is it different from just sarja or tv-ohjelma?

• sarja = “series” in general (could be TV series, book series, etc.)
• televisiosarja = specifically a television series, a TV show that continues in episodes
• tv-ohjelma = “TV program” (any kind of TV content: news, game show, documentary, etc.)

So suomenkielistä televisiosarjaa emphasizes that it’s an episodic TV series in Finnish.

How do you break up and pronounce suomenkielistä?

Syllable breakdown: suo-men-kie-lis-tä

Rough pronunciation (English approximation):

• suo like “swo” in “swore” (but with a clearer o)
• men like English “men”
• kie like “kyeh” (k + yeh; Finnish ie is a diphthong)
• lis like “lis” in “listen”
• tä like “tae,” with the front vowel ä (similar to the a in “cat,” but a bit tenser)

Stress is on the first syllable: SUO-men-kie-lis-tä.