Maksoin laskun verkkopankissa tilisiirrolla eilen illalla.

I paid the bill in online banking by bank transfer last night.

Breakdown of Maksoin laskun verkkopankissa tilisiirrolla eilen illalla.

• minä: I
• -ssa: in
• -lla: by
• eilen illalla: last night
• maksaa: to pay
• lasku: the bill
• verkkopankki: online banking
• tilisiirto: bank transfer

Questions & Answers about Maksoin laskun verkkopankissa tilisiirrolla eilen illalla.

Why is it maksoin and not maksan?

Maksoin is the simple past tense (Finnish imperfekti) of maksaa (to pay) in the 1st person singular (I).

• maksan = I pay / I am paying (present)
• maksoin = I paid (past)
  The ending -in marks “I” in the past tense.

How do you know the subject is “I” if minä isn’t written?

Finnish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

• maksoin unambiguously means “I paid”.
  You can add minä for emphasis or contrast: Minä maksoin laskun… (e.g., I paid it, not someone else).

Why is lasku in the form laskun?

laskun is the object in the total object form (often called accusative/genitive-looking in singular). It signals the bill was paid completely.

• Maksoin laskun = I paid the whole bill (finished action)
  If it were incomplete/ongoing, you’d often use the partitive:
• Maksoin laskua = I was paying the bill / I paid some of it (not necessarily completed)

Is laskun genitive or accusative?

Form-wise it looks like the genitive singular (-n), but functionally here it’s the total object (often taught as accusative in this context).
In Finnish, the singular total object often uses the same form as the genitive (-n), except in some special cases (e.g., with imperatives and some passives).

What does verkkopankissa mean grammatically, and why does it end in -ssa?

verkkopankissa = verkkopankki (online bank) + -ssa (the inessive case) meaning “in”.
So it literally means “in the online bank”, i.e. within the online banking service/app/website.

Could I say verkkopankin kautta instead of verkkopankissa?

Yes, and the nuance shifts slightly:

• verkkopankissa = in the online banking service (focus on the “environment/place”)
• verkkopankin kautta = through/via the online bank (focus on the “channel/route”)
  Both can be natural; verkkopankissa is very common for actions done inside the online banking interface.

Why is it tilisiirrolla and what case is that?

tilisiirrolla = tilisiirto (bank transfer) + -lla (the adessive case).
The adessive is often used to express means/instrument in Finnish:

• tilisiirrolla ≈ by (means of) a bank transfer
  So the sentence uses verkkopankissa for the “where/within what service” and tilisiirrolla for the “how/by what method.”

What’s the difference between tilisiirrolla and tilisiirtona?

Both can relate to “as a bank transfer,” but they’re not identical:

• tilisiirrolla (adessive) = emphasizes means/method: I paid by bank transfer.
• tilisiirtona (essive) = emphasizes in the role/form of something: as a bank transfer (can sound a bit more categorical/contrastive depending on context).
  For “payment method,” tilisiirrolla is usually the most straightforward.

Why are there two time words: eilen and illalla?

They combine to give a more precise time:

• eilen = yesterday
• illalla = in the evening (adessive of ilta)
  Together: eilen illalla = yesterday evening.

Is the word order fixed? Could I move things around?

Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and moving parts mainly changes focus/emphasis rather than basic meaning. For example:

• Maksoin laskun eilen illalla verkkopankissa tilisiirrolla. (time earlier; end highlights method)
• Eilen illalla maksoin laskun verkkopankissa tilisiirrolla. (starts with time; sets the scene first)
  The original order is neutral and natural: verb first, then object, then details.