Toivottavasti onnistumme tällä kertaa paremmin.

Toivottavasti means hopefully. It is an adverb, so it comments on the whole sentence rather than acting like a normal subject or verb.

In Toivottavasti onnistumme tällä kertaa paremmin, it means:

• Hopefully, we will succeed / do better this time.

A useful thing to notice is that Finnish often uses toivottavasti at the beginning of a sentence, just like English hopefully.

Examples:

• Toivottavasti sataa huomenna. = Hopefully it will rain tomorrow.
• Toivottavasti näemme pian. = Hopefully we’ll see each other soon.

Finnish verbs usually show the subject through their ending, so you often do not need a separate pronoun.

Onnistumme breaks down like this:

• onnistua = to succeed
• onnistu- = verb stem
• -mme = we

So onnistumme means we succeed / we will succeed, depending on context.

The pronoun me = we could be added for emphasis:

• Toivottavasti me onnistumme tällä kertaa paremmin.

But normally it is unnecessary.

It is the 1st person plural present tense form of onnistua.

So:

• minä onnistun = I succeed
• sinä onnistut = you succeed
• hän onnistuu = he/she succeeds
• me onnistumme = we succeed
• te onnistutte = you all succeed
• he onnistuvat = they succeed

In Finnish, the present tense can also refer to the future when the meaning is clear from context. So here onnistumme can naturally mean:

• we succeed
• we will succeed

In this sentence, English usually prefers will:

• Hopefully we’ll do better this time.

Mostly yes, but it is worth noticing how Finnish uses it.

Onnistua often means:

• to succeed
• to be successful
• to turn out well

Depending on context, it can refer either to people succeeding or to something going well.

Examples:

• Onnistuin kokeessa. = I succeeded in the exam.
• Ruoka onnistui hyvin. = The food turned out well.

In your sentence, onnistumme paremmin suggests:

• we succeed better
• more naturally in English: we do better

So although onnistua literally points to succeeding, the best English translation may vary.

Tällä kertaa means this time.

It consists of:

• tällä = adessive form of tämä (this)
• kertaa = partitive form of kerta (time, occasion)

This whole expression is a fixed and very common way to say this time.

Related expressions:

• tällä kertaa = this time
• ensi kerralla = next time
• viime kerralla = last time

You do not need to translate the cases word-for-word. It is best learned as a chunk:

• tällä kertaa = this time

In this expression, kertaa is in the partitive singular, and the phrase tällä kertaa is idiomatic Finnish.

For many learners, the most practical approach is simply to memorize it as a set phrase. Finnish has a number of time expressions that use cases in ways that do not match English directly.

So while it is possible to analyze the grammar, the key point is:

• tällä kertaa = this time

Similarly:

• montako kertaa? = how many times?
• ensimmäistä kertaa = for the first time

So the partitive in time expressions is quite common.

Paremmin means better, but specifically in an adverb form.

Compare:

• parempi = better (adjective)
• paremmin = better (adverb)

Use parempi when describing a noun:

• Tämä on parempi suunnitelma. = This is a better plan.

Use paremmin when describing a verb, meaning how something is done:

• Teemme sen paremmin. = We do it better.

In your sentence, paremmin modifies onnistumme, so it tells us how we succeed:

• Hopefully we do better this time.

No, not in this sentence.

Here, the word better describes the action onnistumme (we succeed / we do), so Finnish needs the adverb paremmin.

• Correct: onnistumme paremmin
• Incorrect: onnistumme parempi

Think of it like this:

• adjective = describes a thing
• adverb = describes an action

Since this sentence is about doing/succeeding, Finnish uses the adverb.

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, although the neutral version here is very natural:

• Toivottavasti onnistumme tällä kertaa paremmin.

This is a normal, straightforward order:

1. sentence adverb: toivottavasti
2. verb: onnistumme
3. time expression: tällä kertaa
4. manner/comparison: paremmin

You can move things around for emphasis. For example:

• Tällä kertaa onnistumme toivottavasti paremmin.
• Paremmin onnistumme tällä kertaa — possible in special contexts, but less neutral

Even when word order changes, the case endings still show the grammatical relationships, so the meaning usually stays clear. But for learners, the original order is the safest and most natural.

Literally, it is closer to Hopefully we succeed better this time, but that sounds unnatural in English.

More natural translations are:

• Hopefully we’ll do better this time.
• Hopefully we’ll succeed better this time.
• Hopefully we’ll be more successful this time.

The best English version depends on context. If you are talking about a repeated attempt, project, exam, game, or performance, do better this time is often the most natural translation.

It can be used with any person, because it comments on the whole situation, not on a specific subject.

Examples:

• Toivottavasti onnistun. = Hopefully I’ll succeed.
• Toivottavasti onnistut. = Hopefully you’ll succeed.
• Toivottavasti hän tulee. = Hopefully he/she will come.
• Toivottavasti onnistumme. = Hopefully we’ll succeed.

So in your sentence, toivottavasti is not specially tied to we; it just means hopefully.

It is neutral and works in both spoken and written Finnish.

• Toivottavasti is common in everyday speech and writing.
• Onnistumme is standard Finnish.
• Tällä kertaa paremmin is also very natural and common.

In very casual spoken Finnish, people might simplify or rephrase things, but the sentence as given is completely normal and idiomatic.

If you want to stress this time, you can move tällä kertaa earlier in the sentence:

• Toivottavasti tällä kertaa onnistumme paremmin.

This gives extra focus to this time, as if contrasting it with earlier attempts.

Compare:

• Toivottavasti onnistumme tällä kertaa paremmin. = neutral
• Toivottavasti tällä kertaa onnistumme paremmin. = emphasis on this time

Both are correct and natural.