Translation of "Vaaleissa valittiin uusi eduskunta"
from Puhutaan Suomea, Issue 2/2015
In elections a new parliament was elected.
| vaaleissa | = | in elections |
| The plural inessive of "vaali" (election). The inessive is used to express being somewhere or in something. To form the plural inessive for "new" Finnish words, the suffix -i is replaced by -ei- when attaching the inessive ending -ssa/-ssä. Vaal-ei-ssa. | ||
| valittiin | = | was elected |
| The passive imperfect of "valita" (to elect). The passive voice is used extensively in Finnish. It expresses that something is being or has been done, without further addressing who is performing the action (e.g. "one does xy" in English). The passive imperfect for verb type 5 (verbs that end in -ita/-itä) is formed by adding -ttiin to the stem. Valita ➝ vali- ➝ valittiin. | ||
| uusi | = | new |
| eduskunta | = | parliament |
Suomessa järjestettiin eduskuntavaalit sunnuntaina 19.4.
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on Sunday 19 April.
| Suomessa | = | in Finland |
| The inessive of "Suomi" (Finland). To form the inessive for "old" Finnish words, the suffix -i is replaced by -e- before adding the inessive ending -ssa/-ssä. Suom-e-ssa. | ||
| järjestettiin | = | was held |
| The passive imperfect of "järjestää" (to organize/arrange/hold). The same rules apply as for "valittiin". | ||
| eduskuntavaalit | = | parliamentary elections |
| A compound word from "eduskunta" and the plural of "vaali" (vaalit). | ||
| sunnuntaina | = | on Sunday |
| The essive of "sunnuntai" (Sunday). The essive is formed by adding -na/-nä to the word. When used with days, the meaning is "on (day)". |
Vaaleissa eduskuntaan valittiin 200 kansanedustajaa päättämään Suomea ja suomalaisia koskevista asioista.
In the elections, 200 MPs were elected to the parliament to decide on matters that concern Finland and the Finnish people.
| eduskuntaan | = | to the parliament |
| The illative of "eduskunta". The illative expresses movement into something or somewhere. The illative of words that end in a single vowel is formed by doubling the ending vowel and adding -n. Eduskunta ➝ eduskuntaan. | ||
| kansanedustajaa | = | MPs/deputies |
| Partitive of "kansanedustaja" (MP). After numbers (except "yksi", one), the partitive singular is used. For words ending in a single vowel, add -a/-ä. | ||
| päättämään | = | to decide |
| The third infinitive + illative of "päättää" (to decide). The third infinitive is usually used when two verbs are combined. In this case, the combination is "voted to decide". The case is formed by adding -ma/-mä to the stem. Päättää ➝ päättä- ➝ päättämä. Since motion is involved (voted TO the parliament to decide), the illative is added to "päättämä". Päättämä ➝ päättämä-än. | ||
| Suomea | = | Finland |
| The partitive of "Suomi" | ||
| ja | = | and |
| suomalaisia | = | the Finns/Finnish people |
| The partitive plural of "suomalainen" (Finn). The partitive plural for words that end in -nen: remove the -nen and add -sia. Suomalainen ➝ suomalai- ➝ suomalai-sia. Both "Suomea" and "suomalaisia" have to be in partitive because of the adverb "koskeva". The figure of speech is formed: subject in partitive + koskeva = regarding something. | ||
| koskevista | = | concerning/regarding |
| Plural elative of
"koskeva" (concerning/regarding). To form elative case of words ending in -a/-ö, -o/-ö
or -u/-y, just add -sta/-stä. Plural for words that end in -a and have
an "o" or "u" in the first syllable: replace the -a- with -i- . Koskeva ➝ koskevasta ➝ koskev-i-sta. | ||
| asioista | = | of things/affairs |
| The plural elative of
"asia" (thing/affair). The same rules apply as for "koskevista" except for
the formation of the plural. For words that end in -a with an "e", "i"
or "a" in the fist syllable: replace the -a- with -oi-. Asia ➝ asiasta ➝ asi-oi-sta. | ||
| koskevista asioista | = | on matters/affairs concerning/regarding |
| The elative is used to express that something comes or is from somewhere. Here it is used to express matters and affairs "of" Finland/Finns. The preposition "koskeva" must take the same case and number as the noun it refers to. |
Eduskuntavaaleja varten Suomi on jaettu kaikkiaan 13 vaalipiiriin.
For parliamentary elections, Finland was devided into 13 constituencies in total.
| Eduskuntavaaleja | = | parliamentary elections |
| The partitive plural of "eduskuntavaali". For the partitive plural of "new" words ending in -i: remove the -i and add -eja. | ||
| varten | = | for |
| A postposition. "XY varten" = for XY. | ||
| on jaettu | = | was divided into |
| The past participle passive of "jakaa" (to divide). For the verb type 1 (verbs ending in two vowels), the past participle passive is formed by taking the "passive stem" and adding -ttu/-tty. The passive stem is basically the weak stem of the verb (remove the -n from the first person singular) except for verbs that end in -aa. In that case, the -a turns into -e when forming the passive stem. Jakaa ➝ (minä) jaan (consonant gradation!) ➝ jaa- ➝ jae- ➝ jae-ttu. | ||
| kaikkiaan | = | in total/altogether |
| vaalipiiriin | = | into constituencies/electoral districts |
| The illative of "vaalipiiri" (constituency/electoral district). Vaalipiiri-in. |
Oman äänensä voi antaa vain sille henkilölle, joka on ehdolla samassa vaalipiirissä, johon itse kuuluu.
A literal translation: One's vote can only be given to a person who is up for election in the same constituency to which one her/himself (the voter) belongs to.
Meaning: One can only vote for a person who is up for election in the same constituency to which one her/himself belongs to.
| oman | = | (ones) own |
| The genitive of "oma" (own). | ||
| äänensä | = | his/her voice |
| The third person singular possessive form of "ääni" (voice). The possessive suffix for third person singular is -nsa/-nsä. For words with two or less syllables, the -i turns into -e- when adding a suffix. Ääni ➝ ään-e-nsä. | ||
| voi | = | he/she/it can |
| The third person singular of "voida" (to be able to). | ||
| antaa | = | to give |
| vain | = | only |
| sille henkilölle | = | to the person |
| The allative of "se"
(he/she/it) and the allative of "henkilö" (person). Here the allative is
used to express giving something TO someone. The allative ending: -lle. "Se" takes the same case and number as the noun it refers to. | ||
| joka | = | which/that/who |
| on ehdolla | = | is up for election |
| The adessive of "ehto" (condition/term/reservation). When "ehto" is used in the adessive or allative case, it can refer to nomination/candidacy in the context of an election, e.i., being up for election. Notice the consonant gradation -t- to -d-. | ||
| samassa | = | in the same |
| The inessive of "sama" (the same). The word takes the same case and number as the noun that it refers to. | ||
| vaalipiirissä | = | in the constituency |
| The inessive of "vaalipiiri". | ||
| johon | = | to which |
| itse | = | himself/herself/itself |
| kuuluu | = | he/she/it/one belongs to |
| The third person singular of "kuulua" (to belong to). |
Vaaleissa äänestysoikeus on jokaisella Suomen kansalaisella, joka viimeistään virallisena vaalipäivänä täyttää 18 vuotta.
Every Finnish citizen who has reached the age of 18 no later than on the official day of the election has the right to vote in elections.
| äänestysoikeus | = | the right to vote/suffrage |
| The compound word of "äänestys" (vote) and "oikeus" (right). | ||
| jokaisella X:lla on | = | every X has |
| The allative of "jokainen" (everyone). Allative + "on" is used to express having something. "Minulla on" means "I have". The allative for words that end in -nen: replace -nen with -se-, then add the suffix -lla/-llä. Jokainen ➝ jokai-se-lla. In this case, the word is an adverb for "kansalainen" and therefore has to take the same case and number as the noun. | ||
| Suomen | = | of Finland |
| The genitive of "Suomi". When adding a suffix to an "old" word that ends in -i, the -i turns into -e. | ||
| kansalaisella (on) | = | citizen (has) |
| The allative of "kansalainen" (citizen). The same rules apply as for "jokaisella". | ||
| viimeistään | = | no later than/at latest |
| virallisena | = | official |
| vaalipäivänä | = | on election day |
| The essive of "vaalipäivä" (election day). | ||
| täyttää | = | to fulfill |
| vuotta | = | year |
| The partitive singular of "vuosi" (year). After other numerals except for "yksi" (one), use partitive singular. For words ending in -si: remove -si and add -tta/-ttä. | ||
| täyttää 18 vuotta | = | to fulfill/complete the 18th year |
| A figure of speech also used in German. In essence, "to turn 18". |
Eduskunta vaihtuu Suomessa neljän vuoden välein.
In Finland, the parliament changes every four years.
| vaihtuu | = | he/she/it changes |
| The third person singular of "vaihtua" (to change). | ||
| neljän | = | four |
| The genitive of "neljä" (four). The numbers below 10 are usually written out. | ||
| vuoden | = | year's |
| The genitive of "vuosi". For the genitive for words ending in -si: remove the -si and add -den. | ||
| välein | = | every |
| The instructive plural of "väli" (gap/space/interval). The instructive is formed by adding -in to the weak stem of the inessive plural (väle-i-ssä). The instructive is always plural. It is rarely used and it is mostly found in common expressions such as this one. |
Yhteensä tämän vuoden vaaleissa oli noin 2 000 ehdokasta ympäri maan.
Altogether about 2,000 candidates partook in this year's elections all around the country.
| yhteensä | = | altogether/in total |
| tämän vuoden | = | this years |
| The genitive of "tämä" (this) and "vuosi" (year). | ||
| tämän vuoden vaaleissa | = | in this year's elections |
| The inessive plural of "vaali". | ||
| oli | = | literally, he/she/it was; meaning, partook |
| The imperfect of "olla" (to be). The imperfect is formed by adding -i- to the stem and then adding the personal suffix. Notice that "olla" is an irregular verb. | ||
| noin | = | about/approximately |
| ehdokasta | = | candidates |
| The partitive of "ehdokas" (candidate). The partitive for words that end in one consonant (or two vowels): add -ta/-tä. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish cases from one another if it is unclear what the basic form of the word is. Here, one might mistake the basic form for elative (-sta/-stä). However, a quick look into the dictionary reveals that "ehdoka" does not exist. | ||
| ympäri | = | around |
| maan | = | country/land |
| The genitive of "maa" (country/land). | ||
| ympäri maan | = | all around/across the country |
Translation by Azrael Trailovic