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Pyyhin kahvin pois pöydältä heti, ettei pöytä likaannu.

Pyyhin kahvin pois pöydältä heti, ettei pöytä likaannu.
I wipe the coffee off the table immediately so that the table doesn’t get dirty.
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Questions & Answers about Pyyhin kahvin pois pöydältä heti, ettei pöytä likaannu.

Why is pyyhin in this form—what tense/person is it, and what is the base verb?

Pyyhin is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb pyyhkiä (to wipe).

  • pyyhkiä → minä pyyhin (I wipe)
    Finnish present tense often covers both English I wipe and I am wiping, depending on context.
Why is it kahvin and not kahvia or kahvi?

Kahvin is the total object form (often called genitive/accusative-like in learner materials). It’s used because the action is seen as completed: you wipe the coffee up/off (all of it, as a whole event).

  • kahvia would be the partitive object, suggesting an incomplete/ongoing action (wiping some coffee, or not necessarily finishing).
    So Pyyhin kahvin pois… implies you remove the coffee effectively/completely.
What exactly does pois add here? Is it required?

Pois adds the idea of away/off (removal)—that the coffee ends up not there anymore. It strongly supports the “completed removal” meaning and fits naturally with a total object (kahvin).
You can say Pyyhin kahvia pöydältä (I wipe coffee from the table), but pois makes it clearer that the goal is to get rid of it.

Why is it pöydältä (ablative) and not pöydästä (elative) or pöydällä (adessive)?

Because Finnish chooses location cases based on surface vs inside and movement vs staying:

  • pöydältä = from the surface of the table (ablative: off/from a surface)
  • pöydästä = out of the table (elative: from inside something), which doesn’t fit a table surface
  • pöydällä = on the table (adessive: at/on, location), which would describe where something is, not where it’s removed from
    Wiping something off a table naturally takes pöydältä.
Why does pöytä stay as pöytä in ettei pöytä likaannu instead of becoming some case like pöydän?
In ettei pöytä likaannu, pöytä is the subject of the verb likaannu (gets dirty). Subjects are typically in the nominative (dictionary form), so it stays pöytä.
What is ettei? Is it just että + ei?

Yes: ettei is a very common fused form of että ei (that not / so that not).
It’s used especially in clauses expressing prevention/avoidance, like:

  • I do X so that Y doesn’t happen.
    So …ettei pöytä likaannu means so that the table doesn’t get dirty.
How is ettei different from jotta ei?

Both can often translate as so that … not, but they feel a bit different in usage:

  • jotta ei is a more straightforward purpose connector (in order that … not) and can feel slightly more explicit/formal.
  • ettei is extremely common and often used when the main idea is avoiding an unwanted result.
    In this sentence, ettei sounds very natural because the point is to prevent the table from getting dirty.
What verb is likaannu, and why does it look like that?

Likaannu is the 3rd person singular present of likaantua (to get dirty / become dirty).
It’s an intransitive “change of state” verb:

  • pöytä likaantuu = the table becomes dirty
    In the negative purpose clause, it becomes:
  • ettei pöytä likaannu = so that the table doesn’t become dirty
    (Here you see the negative form: ei … -u/-y ending stays on the main verb.)
Why is it likaannu (ending -u) and not something like likaantuu?

Because of negation: in Finnish, the negative verb carries the person/number (ei), and the main verb takes a special connegative form.
Compare:

  • Positive: pöytä likaantuu
  • Negative: pöytä ei likaannu
    In your sentence, ei is inside ettei, but the grammar is the same: ettei (… ei) likaannu.
Is the word order fixed? Could I move heti or pois?

Finnish word order is fairly flexible, but changes can shift emphasis:

  • Pyyhin kahvin pois pöydältä heti… sounds neutral: action → result (pois) → source (pöydältä) → timing (heti).
  • Pyyhin heti kahvin pois pöydältä… emphasizes immediacy.
  • Pyyhin kahvin heti pois pöydältä… is also possible; it slightly highlights doing the removal right away.
    The given order is very natural and idiomatic.
Why does pöydältä have that d (pöydä-) when the base word is pöytä?

That’s due to consonant gradation / stem changes that appear when you add endings. Many Finnish nouns have a different stem in inflected forms:

  • nominative: pöytä
  • stem used with many endings: pöydä-
  • ablative: pöydältä
    This is a normal pattern, and you mostly learn it by seeing common words in their case forms.
Could I replace pyyhin with pyyhin pois vs pyyhin alone—does it affect the object case?

Often, yes. With a “removal/result” particle like pois, Finnish commonly prefers a total object because the action is framed as reaching an endpoint:

  • Pyyhin kahvin pois (total object is very natural) Without pois, both are possible depending on meaning:
  • Pyyhin kahvia pöydältä (some/ongoing/unspecified amount)
  • Pyyhin kahvin pöydältä (I wiped the coffee from the table—more “complete”)
    So pois nudges the interpretation toward finished removal, matching kahvin.