Learn Hardcore Finnish: Pyydän myyjältä kuitin. - I ask the salesperson for the receipt.

pyytää (infinitive) → pyydän (I ask / I request)
Finnish verbs conjugate for person, so you don’t need a separate word for I unless you want emphasis.

Why isn’t minä (I) included? Can I say Minä pyydän myyjältä kuitin?

Finnish usually omits the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows the person.

Normal: Pyydän myyjältä kuitin.
With emphasis/contrast: Minä pyydän myyjältä kuitin (e.g., I will ask, not someone else).

What does the ending -ltä in myyjältä mean?

-ltä/-ltä is the ablative case, often meaning from (someone/somewhere).
So myyjältä = from the seller.

It’s a common pattern with verbs like pyytää when you’re requesting something from a person:

pyytää joltain = to ask/request something from someone (the someone is often in ablative)

Why is it myyjältä and not myyjälle?

Because the roles are different:

myyjältä (ablative) = from the seller (source of the item/request)
myyjälle (allative) = to the seller (direction/recipient)

With pyytää, the person you ask is typically marked as the “source” (from whom you’re requesting it), so myyjältä is the natural choice.

What case is kuitin, and why isn’t it kuitti?

Kuitin is the genitive singular form of kuitti (receipt). In this kind of sentence, that form is also used as the accusative (total object).

So kuitin signals you’re asking for a specific, complete item: the/a receipt (as a whole).

Could it be Pyydän myyjältä kuittia instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, and it changes the nuance:

kuitin (total object) = you expect to get the receipt (a complete, definite result)
kuittia (partitive) = more like some receipt / a receipt in general, or the request is less “result-focused” (sometimes more tentative)

In everyday situations at a shop, kuitin is very common because you’re asking for a concrete item you will receive.

How do I know when to use total object vs partitive object with verbs like pyytää?

A useful rule of thumb:

Use total object (often -n in singular) when the action is seen as complete or aiming at a whole item/result.
Use partitive when the action is ongoing, incomplete, uncertain, or refers to an unbounded amount.

With pyytää, both are possible, but kuitin strongly fits the idea: I request (and expect to receive) the receipt.

What is the base form of myyjältä? How is it built?

The base word is myyjä (seller).
You add the ablative ending -ltä:

myyjä → myyjältä

Notice the extra -ä- stays because of Finnish vowel harmony (the word has ä, so it takes -ltä, not -lta).

Why does pyytää become pyydän? Where did the t go?

This is a common Finnish change called consonant gradation (plus a related stem change):

pyytää has a “strong” form with tt
In some conjugated forms, it shifts to a “weaker” form: t → d (historically/phonologically)

So:

pyytää → pyydän
similarly: pyytää → pyydät (you ask), pyytää → pyytää (he/she asks)

You mostly learn these as verb patterns; many common verbs behave like this.

Is the word order fixed? Could I say Kuitin pyydän myyjältä?

Finnish word order is fairly flexible because cases mark roles. The neutral, most common order here is:

Pyydän myyjältä kuitin.

Other orders are possible, but they usually add emphasis or contrast:

Kuitin pyydän myyjältä = emphasizes the receipt (not something else)
Myyjältä pyydän kuitin = emphasizes from the seller (not from someone else)

How would I make this more polite in Finnish?

Common more polite options include:

Pyytäisin myyjältä kuitin. = I would ask the seller for the receipt. (conditional, softer)
Saisinko kuitin? = Could I have the receipt? (very common in shops)
Voisinko saada kuitin? = Could I get the receipt? (polite and explicit)

All of these are natural; which one you use depends on context and personal style.