Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tulostusjono on pitkä tänään, joten tulostus kestää kauemmin. - The print queue is long today, so printing takes longer.

Tulostusjono is a compound noun: tulostus (printing / print) + jono (queue/line). Finnish forms compounds very freely, and they’re usually written as one word. So tulostusjono is literally print queue.

Why is it Tulostusjono on pitkä (nominative) and not something like partitive?

With the verb olla (to be) in a basic description (X is Y), Finnish typically uses:

subject in nominative: tulostusjono
predicate adjective in nominative agreeing with the subject: pitkä

Partitive is more common in meanings like “some/partial amount” or “(it is) kind of / somewhat,” but this sentence is just stating a straightforward property: The queue is long.

What does tänään modify here, and can I move it?

Tänään (today) is a time adverb. Here it modifies the situation: the queue’s length today.

It’s flexible in placement:

Tulostusjono on pitkä tänään.
Tulostusjono on tänään pitkä.
Tänään tulostusjono on pitkä. (more emphasis on today)

All are grammatical; word order mainly changes emphasis.

Why is there a comma before joten, and what exactly does joten mean?

Joten means so / therefore, introducing a result clause. In Finnish, it’s normal to put a comma before joten when it links two clauses:

..., joten ... = ..., so ...

So the comma marks the boundary between “cause/background” and “result.”

How is joten different from koska?

They point in opposite directions:

koska = because (gives the reason for what follows)
Example pattern: Tulostus kestää kauemmin, koska tulostusjono on pitkä.
joten = so / therefore (gives the result of what came before)
Your pattern: Tulostusjono on pitkä, joten tulostus kestää kauemmin.

Both can express the same logic, but the clause order and connector differ.

Why does the sentence repeat tulostus instead of using se (“it”)?

Finnish often repeats nouns for clarity, especially in neutral, informational writing. You can use se:

Tulostusjono on pitkä tänään, joten se kestää kauemmin.

But se could briefly be ambiguous (does it refer to the queue or the printing?), so repeating tulostus keeps it crystal clear.

Why is it tulostus kestää and not tulostus on kestää or something else?

kestää is the verb meaning to last / take (time), so you say:

(Something) kestää (how long / longer).

You don’t use olla with an infinitive here. Finnish simply uses kestää as the main verb: the printing takes longer.

What is kauemmin grammatically, and why that form?

Kauemmin is the comparative adverb meaning longer (in time). It comes from kauan (for a long time) and is somewhat irregular:

kauan → kauemmin = long → longer

So kestää kauemmin = takes longer (than usual / than expected), even if the “than …” part is not stated.

If it means “longer,” longer than what? Can I specify it?

By default, kauemmin implies longer than normal/expected from context. If you want to specify the comparison, add a kuin (“than”) phrase:

..., joten tulostus kestää kauemmin kuin yleensä. = ...so printing takes longer than usual.
... kauemmin kuin eilen. = ... longer than yesterday.

Could I say tulostaminen instead of tulostus?

Yes, often:

tulostus = printing as an event/process (also common in technical contexts)
tulostaminen = the -minen noun, more explicitly “the act of printing”

So you could say:

..., joten tulostaminen kestää kauemmin.

Both work; tulostus is a very natural choice in a sentence about a print queue.