Lähetän verokortin työnantajalle sähköpostitse tänään.

I will send the tax card to the employer by email today.

Breakdown of Lähetän verokortin työnantajalle sähköpostitse tänään.

• minä: I
• tänään: today
• työnantaja: the employer
• lähettää: to send
• sähköpostitse: by email
• verokortti: the tax card
• -lle: to/for

Questions & Answers about Lähetän verokortin työnantajalle sähköpostitse tänään.

Why is lähetän used instead of an explicit minä (I)?

Finnish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person. Lähetän = verb stem lähettä- + 1st person singular ending -n, so it already means I send / I’m sending. You can add minä for emphasis or contrast, but it’s not required.

What tense is lähetän, and does it mean I send or I am sending?

Lähetän is in the Finnish present tense. In Finnish, the present tense commonly covers both:

• general present (I send)
• ongoing action (I’m sending) Context decides which English rendering fits best.

Why is the object verokortin ending in -n?

Verokortin is the object in the so-called total object form. For many verbs (including lähettää), if the action is seen as completed / whole (sending the tax card as a complete item), the object often appears as:

• genitive -n in active present/past (e.g., lähetän verokortin)

If you were emphasizing an incomplete/ongoing/indefinite amount (more typical with mass nouns), you’d often see the partitive instead, but with a single document like a tax card, verokortin is the normal choice.

Is verokortin genitive or accusative?

Formally, verokortin looks like the genitive singular (ending -n), and in Finnish grammar it’s often described as a genitive-form total object in these clause types. Finnish also has an accusative category, but for many nouns the accusative is syncretic (looks identical) with the genitive -n. In practice for learners: treat verokortin here as the “complete/whole” object form.

Why is it työnantajalle and not työnantajalleN or something else?

Työnantajalle is allative case (-lle), expressing recipient/destination: sending something to someone.

• työnantaja = employer
• työnantajalle = to the employer

You don’t add -n because -lle already marks the needed relationship (recipient). The -n you see on verokortin is for the object, not for the recipient.

How do I know that työnantajalle is “to my employer” vs “to an employer”?

By itself, työnantajalle doesn’t specify my/the/an the way English articles do. Finnish relies on context. If it’s clear you have one employer, English typically uses my employer or the employer. If you need to specify, you can add:

• minun työnantajalleni = to my employer (more explicit; note -ni on työnantajalleni)

What is sähköpostitse, and how is it different from sähköpostilla?

Sähköpostitse means by email / via email and uses the adverb-forming element -itse, which often indicates by means of a channel/method.

Sähköpostilla (adessive -lla) can also mean by email, but it can feel slightly more like using email / with email (instrument/channel). In everyday Finnish, both can work, but -itse is a very common choice for “via (a medium)” expressions: puhelimitse, postitse, netitse (some are more standard than others).

Why is sähköpostitse placed before tänään? Could the order change?

Finnish word order is flexible. This sentence uses a neutral, clear order: verb – object – recipient – method – time.

You can move elements to emphasize them:

• Tänään lähetän verokortin työnantajalle sähköpostitse. (emphasizes today)
• Sähköpostitse lähetän verokortin työnantajalle tänään. (emphasizes by email)

The core meaning stays, but emphasis and “what’s new information” can shift.

Does tänään have to be at the end?

No. Tänään (today) can appear in several positions. End-position is common for time adverbs, but placing it earlier can highlight it. Finnish uses word order more for information structure (focus/emphasis) than for strict grammar.

What’s the dictionary form of the verb, and why does it look different?

The dictionary form is lähettää (to send). In lähetän, you see a different stem form (lähetä- / lähettä- alternation is part of Finnish verb conjugation patterns). Many verbs change slightly when conjugated; you learn the pattern with the verb type.

Is there consonant gradation happening in any of these words?

Yes, Finnish often has consonant gradation, but in this specific sentence it’s most noticeable in verokortti → verokortin where tt becomes t before certain endings (a common pattern: kk/pp/tt can “weaken” in inflected forms).
Also, työnantaja → työnantajalle keeps its consonants, but you see normal stem + case ending behavior.

Could I use verokorttia instead of verokortin?

Usually you’d say verokortin here because you’re sending a complete document (total object). Verokorttia (partitive) could appear in special contexts, for example if the action is framed as incomplete/ongoing, or if you’re talking in a more general/indefinite way, but with a single tax card being sent, verokortin is the natural default.

If I wanted to say “I will send…”, would I change the verb form?

Often you can still use the Finnish present tense (Lähetän…) to express a near-future planned action, depending on context. If you want to make the future meaning clearer, you can add a time word or expression (you already have tänään) or use a construction like:

• Aion lähettää … = I intend to send … Finnish doesn’t have a dedicated future tense like English.