Hakuaika päättyy huomenna, joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään.

Hakuaika is a compound noun:

• haku = application, search
• aika = time, period

Together, hakuaika means application period or application deadline period, depending on context.

Finnish makes compound words very freely, much more often than English. So where English often uses two words, Finnish often uses one:

• hakemus = application
• hakuaika = application period
• työpaikka = workplace/job
• opiskelija-asunto = student apartment

So hakuaika being one word is completely normal in Finnish.

The basic form is päättyä, which means to end or to come to an end.

So:

• Hakuaika päättyy huomenna = The application period ends tomorrow

This verb is intransitive, meaning the subject ends by itself.

That is different from päättää, which usually means:

• to decide or
• to end/finish something

Compare:

• Kokous päättyy. = The meeting ends.
• Opettaja päättää kokouksen. = The teacher ends the meeting.

So in your sentence, päättyy is correct because the application period is the thing that ends.

Finnish usually uses the present tense to talk about the future when the time is clear from context.

Here the future time is shown by tänään and huomenna:

• päättyy huomenna = ends tomorrow
• lähetän hakemuksen tänään = I’ll send the application today

Finnish does not have a separate future tense like English does. So the present tense often covers both:

• present meaning
• future meaning

For example:

• Menen kotiin nyt. = I’m going home now.
• Menen kotiin huomenna. = I’ll go home tomorrow.

So lähetän literally looks like I send, but here it naturally means I’ll send.

Hakemuksen is the object form here. The basic form is hakemus = application.

In this sentence, hakemuksen is used because the action is aimed at a complete, finished object:

• lähetän hakemuksen = I will send the application

This is often called the total object. In the singular, it often looks like the genitive form.

Compare:

• Lähetän hakemuksen. = I’ll send the application.
  (the whole application, completed action)
• Kirjoitan hakemusta. = I’m writing an application / I’m working on the application.
  (ongoing, incomplete → partitive)

So hakemuksen is used because the speaker means one complete application that will be sent.

Finnish often leaves out personal pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the subject.

Here:

• lähetän = I send / I will send

The ending -n tells you the subject is minä = I.

So both are possible:

• Lähetän hakemuksen tänään.
• Minä lähetän hakemuksen tänään.

Usually the version without minä sounds more natural unless you want emphasis.

For example:

• Minä lähetän hakemuksen tänään, en huomenna.
  = I’m the one sending it today, not tomorrow.

Joten means so, therefore, or thus.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• Hakuaika päättyy huomenna = the application period ends tomorrow
• joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään = so I’m sending the application today

It shows a consequence or result:

• deadline is tomorrow
• as a result, I send the application today

It is common to put a comma before joten, as in your sentence.

Some similar connectors are:

• siksi = therefore, for that reason
• niin = so
• sen vuoksi = because of that / for that reason

But joten is a very natural choice here.

Words like tänään (today) and huomenna (tomorrow) are common time expressions that function as adverbs.

They answer the question when?

• milloin? = when?

Examples:

• tänään = today
• huomenna = tomorrow
• nyt = now
• eilen = yesterday

You do not usually need to analyze them the same way as ordinary noun cases in beginner Finnish. It is easiest to learn them as fixed time words.

In your sentence:

• päättyy huomenna = ends tomorrow
• lähetän hakemuksen tänään = I’ll send the application today

Yes, the sentence can be rearranged, because Finnish word order is more flexible than English word order. The original sentence is very natural:

• Hakuaika päättyy huomenna, joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään.

But other orders are also possible, with slightly different emphasis:

• Huomenna hakuaika päättyy, joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään.
• Lähetän hakemuksen tänään, რადგან hakuaika päättyy huomenna.

The most neutral version is usually the one you were given.

In Finnish, changing word order often changes emphasis rather than basic meaning. English relies more heavily on fixed word order to show grammar.

Yes. Finnish does not have articles like a, an, or the.

So hakemus can mean:

• an application
• the application

The exact meaning depends on context.

Here, lähetän hakemuksen tänään is very naturally understood as:

• I’ll send the application today or
• I’ll send my application today

The context makes it specific enough, even without an article.

This is very normal in Finnish:

• Ostin kirjan. = I bought a/the book.
• Avasin oven. = I opened the door.

Yes. Hakemus usually means an application, especially an official one such as:

• a job application
• a school application
• a grant application

So in this sentence:

• lähetän hakemuksen = I’m sending the application

Related words:

• hakea = to apply / to seek
• hakija = applicant
• hakuaika = application period
• hakulomake = application form

These all belong to the same word family.

Because joten introduces a new clause that expresses a result or conclusion.

So the structure is:

• first clause: Hakuaika päättyy huomenna
• second clause: joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään

In Finnish, a comma is normally used before conjunctions like joten when they join clauses like this.

So the comma is not optional decoration; it is part of normal written Finnish punctuation.

Yes, that is also correct.

It means:

• I’ll send the application today because the application period ends tomorrow.

The difference is mainly in structure and emphasis:

• ..., joten ... = ..., so ...
  This presents the second clause as the result.
• ..., koska ... = ..., because ...
  This presents the second clause as the reason.

So both are natural:

• Hakuaika päättyy huomenna, joten lähetän hakemuksen tänään.
• Lähetän hakemuksen tänään, koska hakuaika päättyy huomenna.

They are very close in meaning.

You could say:

• Hakuaika päättyy huomenna, joten lähetän hakemukseni tänään.

Here hakemukseni means my application.

The ending -ni means my:

• hakemus = application
• hakemukseni = my application

Finnish often leaves out possessive marking if the meaning is obvious from context, so the original sentence without -ni is still perfectly natural. But if you want to emphasize that it is specifically your own application, hakemukseni works well.