Viime aikoina minulta on tullut ostettua liikaa matkamuistoja, vaikka en oikeasti tarvitse niitä.

Viime aikoina is a very common fixed expression meaning lately / recently / in recent times.

Even though English usually uses a singular idea here, Finnish uses the plural form aikoina in this expression. It comes from aika (time) and is best learned as a whole phrase:

• viime aikoina = lately
• viime vuosina = in recent years
• viime päivinä = in recent days

So this is not something you need to translate word-for-word every time. It is just a normal Finnish time expression.

Minulta is the ablative form of minä. In this kind of sentence, Finnish uses the ablative to show the person who has ended up doing something, often in a slightly accidental, uncontrolled, or unintended way.

So:

• minulta on tullut ostettua = I’ve ended up buying / I’ve found myself buying

This construction often feels a bit like:

• it happened from me
• I ended up doing it
• I kind of did it without really meaning to

You see the same pattern in other sentences too:

• Minulta unohtui avaimet. = I forgot the keys.
• Minulta tuli sanottua liikaa. = I ended up saying too much.

So minulta is not random here; it is part of a common Finnish pattern.

This is a common Finnish construction:

• tulla
  • a participle-like form such as ostettua, sanottua, tehtyä

It expresses the idea of:

• ending up doing something
• happening to do something
• doing something somewhat unintentionally or without strong intention

So on tullut ostettua does not simply mean have bought. It adds a nuance like:

• have ended up buying
• have found myself buying

Grammatically, on tullut is the perfect tense of tulla, and ostettua is the form that stays in this construction.

Very common examples:

• Minulta on tullut juotua liikaa kahvia.
• Häneltä tuli sanottua jotain tyhmää.
• Meiltä on jäänyt se tekemättä.

A good practical way to learn it is as a pattern rather than over-focusing on the terminology.

The difference is mostly in nuance.

• Olen ostanut liikaa matkamuistoja = a neutral factual statement: I have bought too many souvenirs
• Minulta on tullut ostettua liikaa matkamuistoja = I’ve ended up buying too many souvenirs, with a sense that it was not fully planned, or happened as a habit, temptation, or weak self-control

The second version can sound:

• more self-aware
• more apologetic
• more casual
• slightly humorous or self-critical

So the sentence is not just about the action itself. It also comments on how the action happened.

Because the sentence is talking about a tendency or repeated situation up to the present, not just one finished moment in the past.

• minulta tuli ostettua = I ended up buying (on one particular occasion)
• minulta on tullut ostettua = I have ended up buying / I’ve been ending up buying (over a recent period)

That fits well with viime aikoina (lately). The perfect tense makes the whole sentence feel like a recent ongoing pattern.

Not a normal nominative subject, no.

In English, we expect something like I as the subject. But Finnish often uses impersonal or subjectless-looking constructions where the person involved appears in another case instead.

Here, the person involved is:

• minulta = from me / by me / on my part

So even though there is no nominative minä, the sentence still clearly tells you who is responsible for the action.

This is one reason Finnish can feel unusual to English speakers: the person doing or experiencing something is not always in the nominative.

Liikaa means too much or too many, depending on the noun that follows.

Because matkamuistot are countable things, liikaa matkamuistoja means:

• too many souvenirs

The noun after a quantity word like liikaa usually goes in the partitive:

• liikaa kahvia = too much coffee
• liikaa rahaa = too much money
• liikaa kirjoja = too many books
• liikaa matkamuistoja = too many souvenirs

So this is a normal quantity structure in Finnish.

Because it follows liikaa, and because we are talking about an indefinite plural amount.

• matkamuistoja = partitive plural of matkamuisto

This fits the meaning too many souvenirs, where the number is not being presented as a complete, finished set. It is just an unspecified excessive amount.

Compare:

• Ostin matkamuistoja. = I bought souvenirs.
• Ostin liikaa matkamuistoja. = I bought too many souvenirs.

The partitive is very common with:

• indefinite amounts
• plural objects in non-total meanings
• quantity expressions

Because the verb is negative:

• en tarvitse niitä = I don’t need them

In Finnish, the object of a negative verb is usually in the partitive. That is why the pronoun is:

• niitä = partitive plural of ne

Compare:

• Tarvitsen ne. = I need them.
• En tarvitse niitä. = I don’t need them.

So the negative verb en tarvitse is the key reason for niitä.

Vaikka means although / even though in this sentence.

It introduces a contrast:

• I keep ending up buying too many souvenirs
• even though I do not really need them

So it connects two ideas that do not logically fit well together.

Be careful: vaikka can also mean even if in some contexts. Here, though, it clearly means although / even though.

Oikeasti means really / actually / genuinely.

Here it adds emphasis:

• en oikeasti tarvitse niitä = I don’t really actually need them

It makes the speaker sound more honest or self-aware, as if they are admitting:

• If I’m being honest, I don’t need them at all.

So oikeasti does not change the basic grammar much, but it adds natural spoken-style emphasis.

Yes, very common.

It is especially useful when you want to say that something happened:

• a bit unintentionally
• almost by accident
• as a repeated habit you are not proud of
• without strong deliberate intention

Examples:

• Minulta tuli unohdettua se. = I ended up forgetting it.
• Meiltä on tullut syötyä liikaa herkkuja. = We’ve ended up eating too many treats.
• Häneltä tuli sanottua jotain rumaa. = He/She ended up saying something rude.

For an English speaker, a good shortcut is to think:

• I ended up doing X
• I found myself doing X

That will usually get you very close to the Finnish feeling.