Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tänään menen virastoon asioimaan. - Today I go to the office to take care of things.

Finnish commonly drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.
menen is the 1st person singular present form of mennä (to go), so it already means I go / I’m going. You can add minä for emphasis or contrast: Tänään minä menen virastoon asioimaan (stressing that I (not someone else) am going).

Why is menen in the present tense if the sentence refers to a plan for later today?

Finnish often uses the present tense for near-future plans, especially when a time word like tänään (today) is present. So Tänään menen... naturally means Today I’m going / I will go... depending on context.

What case is virastoon, and why is it used here?

virastoon is in the illative case, which expresses movement into something.

virasto = (an) office (often a government/administrative office)
virastoon = into the office / to the office (inside it)

Because mennä is a motion verb and the destination is “inside the office,” illative is the typical choice.

What’s the difference between virastoon, virastossa, and virastolle?

They describe different location/motion relationships:

virastoon (illative) = movement into the office (destination inside)
virastossa (inessive) = being in the office (location)
virastolle (allative) = movement to the office area/grounds, often “to the office (as a place)” without emphasizing going inside

In many everyday situations virastoon and virastolle can both be heard, but virastoon is the clearest “go inside the office.”

Why does virasto become virastoon (where does the extra o come from)?

The illative has a special formation. For many words ending in -o/-ö, the illative is often made by:

lengthening the final vowel (so o becomes oo)
adding -n

So: virasto → virastoon.
That long oo is pronounced as a longer vowel.

What is asioimaan—is it a verb, a noun, or something else?

asioimaan is a verb form: the illative of the 3rd infinitive (often taught as the “-maan/-mään form”). It’s used especially after motion verbs to show purpose:

mennä + -maan/-mään = go (somewhere) to do (something)

So mennä virastoon asioimaan = go into the office to take care of things / to handle business / to run errands.

How is asioimaan formed from the dictionary form asioida?

From asioida (to deal with matters; to run errands; to handle business), you form the 3rd infinitive stem and then the illative:

asioida → asioi- (stem)
add -ma/-mä → asioima-
add illative -an/-än → asioimaan

Vowel harmony chooses -maan (not -mään) because the word has back vowels (a, o, u).

Could I replace asioimaan with asioida or asioimassa?

Not in the same meaning/structure:

asioida (basic infinitive) doesn’t fit after mennä to express purpose in standard Finnish.
asioimassa (inessive of the 3rd infinitive) means “in the middle of doing / doing (at a place)” and is often used with “to be” or “to go and be doing,” depending on context. For example:
- Olen virastossa asioimassa = I’m at the office taking care of things
- Menen virastoon asioimaan = I’m going to the office to take care of things (purpose)

So asioimaan is the natural choice here.

Is virasto always a government office? What if I mean a regular workplace office?

virasto most commonly refers to an official office/agency (government, municipal, administrative). If you mean a general workplace office, common words include:

toimisto = office (workplace/office space), also “an office” in a business sense
So you might say: Tänään menen toimistoon if you mean your workplace office.

Can the word order be changed? For example, Menen tänään virastoon asioimaan?

Yes. Finnish word order is flexible, and changes mainly affect emphasis:

Tänään menen virastoon asioimaan. = emphasis on today (as the topic/contrast)
Menen tänään virastoon asioimaan. = more neutral, like “I’m going today…”
Virastoon menen tänään asioimaan. = emphasizes the office as the destination (often contrastive)

All are grammatically fine; context decides what sounds most natural.

How would this sound if I wanted to say “I’m going to the office to handle one specific matter”?

You could make it more specific by naming the errand, or by using an object with hoitaa (to take care of):

Tänään menen virastoon hoitamaan yhden asian. = Today I’m going to the office to take care of one thing.
Or specify the task: ...hakemaan passia (to pick up/apply for a passport, depending on context)

asioimaan is intentionally broad and “errand-like.”

What’s the difference between menen and käyn here?

Both can work, but they suggest slightly different things:

menen virastoon = I go to the office (focus on going there; could be longer/one-way)
käyn virastossa/virastolla = I go and visit/do an errand (often implies a relatively quick trip and return)

So Tänään käyn virastossa asioimassa is also common for “I’ll pop into the office to run an errand,” while your sentence focuses on the destination + purpose with mennä + -maan.

How do you pronounce Tänään menen virastoon asioimaan (any tricky parts)?

A few key points:

Stress is usually on the first syllable of each word: TÄ-nään ME-nen VI-ras-toon A-si-oi-maan
ä is like the vowel in English cat but more fronted; keep it distinct from a
Long vowels matter: virastoon has a long oo
asioimaan has several vowels; pronounce them clearly: a-si-oi-maan (no English-style vowel reduction)