Learn Hardcore Finnish: Palvelutiskillä virkailija pyytää henkilötunnukseni. - At the service counter, the clerk asks for my personal identity code.

Palvelutiskillä is palvelutiski (service desk / counter) + the adessive case ending -llä/-llä, which often means on / at / by something.

palvelutiski = service desk/counter
palvelutiskillä = at the service desk (literally “on/by the service counter”)

The adessive is commonly used for locations where something happens: asemalla (at the station), pöydällä (on the table), tiskillä (at the counter).

Why is virkailija in the basic form and not in a case ending?

Because virkailija is the subject of the sentence (the person doing the action), and Finnish subjects are typically in the nominative (the dictionary form) in affirmative present-tense sentences.

So:

virkailija = the clerk/official (subject)
The verb pyytää is conjugated to match it.

How do I know who is doing what, since Finnish word order seems flexible?

Finnish relies heavily on case endings (and verb agreement) rather than word order.

In this sentence:

virkailija (nominative) = the doer (subject)
pyytää = verb “requests/asks for”
henkilötunnukseni is the thing being requested (object)

Word order can shift for emphasis, but the roles stay clear because of forms/endings.

Why is the verb pyytää in the form pyytää (not pyydän or something else)?

pyytää here is the 3rd person singular present form, meaning he/she requests/asks for.

Conjugation (present tense):

minä pyydän = I ask for
sinä pyydät = you ask for
hän pyytää = he/she asks for
me pyydämme = we ask for
te pyydätte = you (pl) ask for
he pyytävät = they ask for

Since the subject is virkailija (a single clerk), you use pyytää.

Is pyytää “ask” or “request”? Which English sense is it?

In Finnish, pyytää covers asking for / requesting something (often something concrete, like an ID number, document, help, etc.).

It’s different from asking a question (kysyä):

pyytää henkilötunnusta = request/ask for an ID number
kysyä henkilötunnus (or kysyä henkilötunnusta) = ask (a question) about the ID number / ask what it is

In this sentence, pyytää strongly fits the “request” sense.

Why is henkilötunnukseni written as one word, and what parts is it made of?

It’s one word because Finnish commonly attaches possessive suffixes directly to nouns.

Breakdown:

henkilötunnus = personal identity code (Finnish ID number)
henkilötunnukseni = my personal identity code

More precisely:

henkilötunnus (base)
henkilötunnukse- (stem used here)
-ni = my

So the “my” is expressed by -ni, not by a separate word like my.

Why is it henkilötunnukseni and not henkilötunnukseniä or something in a different case?

Because the object here is in the genitive form (often used for a total/definite object in affirmative sentences).

virkailija pyytää henkilötunnukseni ≈ “The clerk requests my ID number (as a complete item).”

A common alternative is the partitive for a more open-ended or less “complete” sense:

virkailija pyytää henkilötunnustani (partitive + possessive suffix)
This can sound like “asks for my ID number” as well, but it can feel slightly less “bounded/definite” depending on context.

In real usage, both can appear, but genitive is very common when requesting a specific piece of information as a complete unit.

How does the possessive suffix work with cases—what would “at my service desk” or “my ID number” in other cases look like?

Possessive suffixes attach after the case ending (with some stem changes).

Examples with henkilötunnus:

nominative: henkilötunnukseni = my ID number
partitive: henkilötunnustani = my ID number (partitive)
genitive: henkilötunnukseni = my ID number (genitive looks the same as nominative here)
illative (“into/to”): henkilötunnukseeni = into/to my ID number (rare, but grammatically possible)

With tiski (counter):

tiskilläni = at my counter (adessive + -ni)
tiskillämme = at our counter (adessive + -mme)

Is Palvelutiskillä in the beginning just “at the service desk,” or is it emphasizing something?

Placing Palvelutiskillä first sets the scene/topic: “As for at the service desk…” / “At the service desk…”.

Finnish often starts with:

time: Tänään… (Today…)
place: Palvelutiskillä… (At the service desk…)
topic/contrast for emphasis

So it’s both a normal “location-first” style and a mild emphasis on where this happens.

What is the difference between virkailija and myyjä or asiakaspalvelija?

They overlap, but have different typical contexts:

virkailija = clerk/official, often in more administrative/institutional settings (bank, post office, government office, service desk)
myyjä = salesperson (retail-focused)
asiakaspalvelija = customer service representative (service role, can be retail or support)

In a “service desk” setting, virkailija and asiakaspalvelija are both plausible; virkailija can sound a bit more formal/official.

How do you pronounce this sentence, especially the long vowels and double consonants?

Key pronunciation points:

Finnish spelling is very regular: one letter ≈ one sound.
Double letters are longer (held longer).

Highlights:

Palvelutiskillä: the -llä ends with a long l sound (ll) and ä like the vowel in cat (but more fronted).
pyytää: yy is a long front rounded vowel (like German ü, held long), and ää is a long ä.
henkilötunnukseni: stress is on the first syllable: HEN-ki-lö-...

Finnish word stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.