Kuittaan tehtävälistan kohdan vasta, kun tulostus on valmis.

I check off the item on the to-do list only when the printing is ready.

Breakdown of Kuittaan tehtävälistan kohdan vasta, kun tulostus on valmis.

• minä: I
• olla: to be
• valmis: ready
• tulostus: printing
• kuittaa: to check off
• tehtävälista: to-do list
• kohta: item
• vasta kun: only when

Questions & Answers about Kuittaan tehtävälistan kohdan vasta, kun tulostus on valmis.

What does kuittaan mean here, and is it a common verb for “checking something off”?

Kuittaan comes from kuittaa, which literally means to acknowledge/confirm/receipt (as in signing a receipt). In everyday work/task contexts it’s also used as to mark something as done / to check off (i.e., “I’ll acknowledge/confirm this item as completed”).
If you want a more “plain task-list” verb, merkitsen (sen) tehdyksi (“I mark it as done”) is another common option, but kuittaan is very natural in office/IT/process language.

Why is kuittaan in the present tense if the meaning is about the future (“I will …”)?

Finnish often uses the present tense to talk about future actions, especially when it’s a planned or expected action. So Kuittaan … vasta, kun … can translate naturally as “I’ll check off … only when …” even though the verb form is present.

What is the structure of tehtävälistan kohdan? Why are there two words ending in -n?

It’s a noun phrase meaning “(the) task list item” / “an item on the task list”:

• tehtävälista = task list → tehtävälistan is the genitive (“of the task list”)
• kohta = point/item/entry → kohdan is the object form here

So literally: “I check off the item of the task list.”

Is kohdan genitive or accusative? How do I know?

Formally, kohdan is the -n form, which can function as:

• genitive singular (used for possession, modifiers), or
• accusative singular (the “total object” form)

Here it’s the object of kuittaan, so it’s functioning as the accusative (total object). Many Finnish nouns have the accusative singular identical to the genitive singular in form (-n), so you identify it by role in the sentence (object of the verb) rather than by shape alone.

Why is it a “total object” (kohdan) instead of a “partial object” (partitive)?

Using the -n object (kohdan) suggests the action is seen as completed/whole: you check off the item as a finished unit.
If you used partitive (kohtaa), it would sound like the action is ongoing/unfinished or not fully achieved, which doesn’t fit well with “checking off” something as complete.

What does vasta mean in this sentence, and where does it belong?

vasta here means only (then) / not until. The pattern is:

• vasta, kun … = “only when …” / “not until …”

Position-wise, vasta often comes right before the condition it limits. Putting it before the kun-clause makes it clear that the checking-off happens only after that condition is met.

Why is there a comma in vasta, kun tulostus on valmis? Is it required?

Finnish normally uses a comma before a subordinate clause introduced by kun:

• … , kun tulostus on valmis.

The comma after vasta is common when vasta is treated as a separate focusing word before the kun-clause: vasta, kun …. In less formal writing, some people might omit that first comma, but the comma before kun is the standard rule.

What exactly does tulostus mean—“printing” or “printout”?

tulostus usually refers to the process/event of printing (“the printing”).
If you want to emphasize the physical output (the printout), Finnish more often uses:

• tuloste = a printout

So kun tulostus on valmis is “when the printing is finished/ready.”

How does on valmis work? Why not a verb like “finishes”?

on valmis is the common Finnish way to say something is ready / finished:

• valmis is an adjective meaning ready, finished
• on is “is”

You can also express the same idea with a verb:

• kun tulostus valmistuu = “when the printing finishes/is completed” But on valmis is very idiomatic and often the most straightforward.

Could I drop kohdan and just say Kuittaan tehtävälistan vasta, kun …?

You can, but it changes the meaning. Without kohdan, tehtävälistan would sound like you’re “checking off the task list” as a whole (which is odd unless you mean the entire list is done).
With kohdan, it’s clearly one item/entry that you’re checking off. If you want to keep it general but still natural, you could also say:

• Kuittaan tehtävän vasta, kun tulostus on valmis. (“I’ll check off the task only when printing is ready.”)