Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

Maybe I will go to the park today.

Breakdown of Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

• mennä: to go
• puisto: the park
• tänään: today
• ehkä: perhaps

Questions & Answers about Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

Why is there no word for I (like minä) in Ehkä menen puistoon tänään?

Finnish often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Mennä = to go (dictionary form)
• Menen = I go / I will go (1st person singular)

The -n ending tells you it is I, so minä is not needed.

You can add it for emphasis:

• Ehkä minä menen puistoon tänään.
  = Maybe *I will go to the park today (as opposed to someone else).*

So:

• Without minä = neutral, very normal
• With minä = emphasises the subject

What tense is menen, and how do you say I will go in Finnish?

Menen is the present tense of mennä.

Finnish does not have a separate future tense. The present tense is used both for:

• Present: Menen puistoon. = I am going to the park / I go to the park.
• Future (especially near future): Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.
  = Maybe I will go to the park today.

Context (words like tänään, huomenna, etc.) usually makes it clear whether you mean present or future. So you don’t need a special future form like will go.

What exactly does ehkä mean, and why is it at the beginning of the sentence? Can it move?

Ehkä means maybe / perhaps.

Putting it at the beginning:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.
  is a very natural, neutral way to say Maybe I will go to the park today.

Ehkä is quite flexible and can move around in the sentence, with small changes in emphasis:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.
  Focus on the uncertainty of the whole idea.
• Menen ehkä puistoon tänään.
  Slightly more focus on the verb menen – you are commenting on the going (“I maybe will go…”).
• Menen puistoon ehkä tänään.
  Now the “maybe” leans more toward when you go: I will go to the park, maybe today.

All of these are grammatical; the differences are mainly in nuance and rhythm.

Why does puisto become puistoon? What does the -oon ending mean?

Puistoon is puisto (park) in the illative case, which often means into / to (inside) a place.

Basic forms:

• puisto = park (basic dictionary form)
• puistoon = into the park / to the park (movement into)
• puistossa = in the park (location inside, no movement)
• puistosta = from the park / out of the park (movement out of)

In Ehkä menen puistoon tänään, you are moving to the park, so Finnish uses the illative case puistoon rather than a preposition like to.

So:

• Movement into → puistoon
• Being in → puistossa
• Movement out of → puistosta

What does tänään literally mean, and can it go in other positions in the sentence?

Tänään means today and functions as a time adverb.

It originally comes from tämä (this) + päivä (day), but as a learner you can just remember it as one word meaning today.

It is quite free in word order:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään. (very natural)
• Ehkä menen tänään puistoon.
• Tänään ehkä menen puistoon.
• Tänään menen ehkä puistoon.

All are grammatical; the differences are mainly in emphasis and what you want to highlight (the time, the uncertainty, the place, etc.). Neutral-sounding orders include:

• Menen tänään puistoon.
• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

What is the basic or most neutral word order for this sentence? Could you say it in another order?

A very neutral version without ehkä is:

• Menen tänään puistoon.
  (Subject–Verb–Time–Place)

With ehkä, the original:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

is also natural. Some other possible orders and their feel:

• Ehkä menen tänään puistoon. – also neutral, very common.
• Menen ehkä puistoon tänään. – okay; ehkä now follows the verb.
• Tänään ehkä menen puistoon. – puts today in focus (e.g. contrasting with other days).

In everyday speech, moving these elements around is common and usually just changes what is slightly emphasised. All of the above are acceptable.

How do you negate this sentence with maybe? Where do en and ehkä go?

The negative form of menen (I go) is en mene (I do not go).

To keep ehkä (maybe), you usually put it near the negative verb. Common options:

• Ehkä en mene puistoon tänään.
  Maybe I won’t go to the park today.
  (Neutral, very natural)

• En ehkä mene puistoon tänään.
  I maybe won’t go to the park today.
  (Also common; the uncertainty is tied closely to the not going.)

Both are grammatical. Subtle nuance:

• Ehkä en mene… – the whole idea is uncertain.
• En ehkä mene… – the negation itself is somewhat uncertain.

In practice, they are very close in meaning.

If I want to say Maybe I would go to the park today (more hypothetical or polite), how do I change the sentence?

You can use the conditional mood of the verb mennä, which is menisin (I would go).

Examples:

• Ehkä menisin puistoon tänään.
  = Maybe I would go to the park today.
  (Hypothetical – you are considering it, not making a firm plan.)

You might use this:

• When you are just imagining a possibility.

• When being more tentative or polite.

  Compare:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.
  = Maybe I’ll go to the park today. (more like a real plan)
• Ehkä menisin puistoon tänään.
  = Maybe I would go to the park today. (more hypothetical or soft)

When would you actually include minä and say Ehkä minä menen puistoon tänään?

Adding minä emphasises I, often in contrast to someone or something else.

For example:

• Ehkä minä menen puistoon tänään.
  Could imply:
  • Maybe *I will go to the park today (but you won’t).*
  • Maybe *I will go, not someone else.*

You might use minä when:

• Correcting someone:
  En sinä vaan minä menen puistoon. Ehkä minä menen puistoon tänään.
• Emphasising that you will go, not another person.

In neutral, non-contrasting situations, Finnish usually omits minä:

• Ehkä menen puistoon tänään.

How would you turn this into a yes–no question like Should I maybe go to the park today?

To make a yes–no question in Finnish, you usually add the -ko/-kö ending to the verb.

Basic question (without ehkä):

• Menenkö puistoon tänään?
  = Shall I go to the park today? / Am I going to the park today?

If you want the “maybe” feeling, Finnish often uses a different strategy instead of just adding ehkä:

• Menisinköhän puistoon tänään?
  (conditional + -han/-hän)
  = I wonder if I should go to the park today / Maybe I should go to the park today?

You can say:

• Menenkö ehkä puistoon tänään?

but it sounds a bit redundant (a question already expresses uncertainty). More natural is:

• Menenkö puistoon tänään vai en?
  (Am I going to the park today or not?)
• or the wondering style: Menisinköhän puistoon tänään?