Tämä on kansio, johon tallennan kaikki tiedostot.

This is the folder where I save all the files.

Breakdown of Tämä on kansio, johon tallennan kaikki tiedostot.

• minä: I
• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• kaikki: all
• tallentaa: to save
• tiedosto: file
• kansio: folder
• johon: in which

Questions & Answers about Tämä on kansio, johon tallennan kaikki tiedostot.

Why is there a comma after kansio?

Finnish normally uses a comma before a relative clause (a clause that begins with joka/joka- forms like johon).
So Tämä on kansio, johon… = This is a folder, into which… / This is a folder where…
In Finnish writing, that comma is standard (and expected) in this structure.

What exactly does johon mean, and what is its base form?

johon is a relative pronoun form meaning into which / where (into).
Its base form is joka (which/that). The ending -hon shows the illative case (movement into something).
So johon refers back to kansio and essentially means kansioon (into the folder), but in a relative-clause way.

Why is it johon (illative “into”), not jossa (“in”)?

Because the verb tallentaa (to save/store) is commonly conceptualized as putting something into a place:

• tallennan tiedostot kansioon = I save the files into a folder.
  So the relative clause keeps that “into” idea: kansio, johon tallennan….
  If you used jossa, it would sound more like a folder in which the files are (located/stored), focusing on location rather than the saving action.

How does the relative clause work here—what is omitted?

The relative clause johon tallennan kaikki tiedostot corresponds to something like:

• Tallennan kaikki tiedostot siihen kansioon. (I save all files into that folder.)
  In the relative version, se kansio / siihen kansioon is replaced by johon, which “connects” the clause back to kansio.

Why is the verb tallennan and not tallentaa?

tallennan is the 1st person singular present tense form: I save.
Finnish conjugates verbs for person, so you don’t need a separate word for I (though you can add minä for emphasis).
Infinitive (dictionary form) is tallentaa (to save).

Could I add minä? Would it change the meaning?

Yes: Tämä on kansio, johon minä tallennan kaikki tiedostot.
It still means the same, but minä adds emphasis/contrast, like I (as opposed to someone else) save them there.

Why is it kaikki tiedostot and not kaikkia tiedostoja?

This is about Finnish object marking (very common learner question).

• kaikki tiedostot treats the object as total/complete: all the files (as a whole set).
• kaikkia tiedostoja (partitive) would suggest an incomplete/ongoing/unspecified amount—more like (some) files / files in general, or “not necessarily all of them / not as a completed set.”
  Because the sentence explicitly says all, Finnish typically uses the total-object style tiedostot here.

Why does tiedostot look like a nominative plural—how can it be an object?

In Finnish, plural total objects often look identical to the nominative plural form.
So tiedostot here functions as a (total) object even though it’s form-identical to nominative plural. Context + grammar (verb + meaning + kaikki) signals it’s the object.

Could the sentence be written without johon, like using a “where” word?

Finnish doesn’t have a single general “where” relative word the way English does; it uses joka-based relatives in the right case:

• johon = into which
• jossa = in which
• josta = from which
  So Tämä on kansio, johon… is the normal way to say “a folder where/into which…”

Is the word order flexible? Could I move parts around?

Somewhat, but the given order is the most neutral:

• Tämä on kansio, johon tallennan kaikki tiedostot. (neutral)
  You could front the object for emphasis:
• Tämä on kansio, johon kaikki tiedostot tallennan. (emphasizes all the files, but sounds more marked)
  Or add minä for contrast, as mentioned. In general, Finnish uses word order to manage emphasis and information flow, even though cases carry a lot of the grammatical roles.

What’s the difference between tämä and se in this kind of sentence?

• tämä = this (near the speaker / just mentioned / being pointed at)
• se = that (farther away / previously known / often used like “the one”)
  So Tämä on kansio… fits when you’re indicating a specific folder “here/this one.”