Translation of
"Yhä useampi pari menee naimisiin maistraatissa"
from Puhutaan Suomea, Issue 3/2015
More and more couples get married at the registry office.
| yhä | = | still |
| useampi | = | more |
| The comparative form of "usea" (many). The comparative is usually formed by adding -mpi to the word. In this case, no other alterations are necessary. | ||
| yhä useampi | = | more and more |
| pari | = | couple | menee | = | go |
| The third-person singular of "mennä" (to go). | ||
| naimisiin | = | to get married |
| The illative plural of "naiminen" which in turn is the fourth infinitive of "naida" (to mary). "Mennä naimisiin" is the usual phrase to use when you want to say "getting married" (literal translation "going to marriages"). | ||
| maistraatissa | = | in/at the registry office |
| The inessive of "maistraatti" (registry office). Notice the consonant gradation from -tt- to -t- when adding the inessive ending -ssa. |
Avioliittoja solmitaan nykyään enemmän maistraatissa kuin kirkossa.
Nowadays, more marriages are contracted at a registry office than in a church.
| avioliittoja | = | marriages |
| The partitive plural of "avioliitto" (marriage). For the partitive plural add -ja/-jä for words that end in o, ö, u or y. | ||
| solmitaan | = | are established/contracted |
| The present passive of "solmia" (to establish/tie/contract). The present passive for type 1 verbs: add -taan/tään to the weak stem. | ||
| nykyään | = | nowadays |
| enemmän | = | more |
| enemmän ... kuin | = | more ... than |
| kirkossa | = | in the/a church |
| The inessive of "kirkko" (church). Notice the consonant gradation from -kk- to -k- when adding the inessive ending -ssa. |
Vuonna 2014 siviilivihkimiset maistraatissa olivat ensimmäistä kertaa suositumpia kuin kirkkohäät.
In (the year) 2014, civil weddings at the registry office were for the first time more popular than church weddings.
| vuonna | = | in the year |
| The (irregular) essive of "vuosi" (year). The regular essive would be "vuotena". Usually the older (irregular) form is used in this type of phrases. | ||
| siviilivihkimiset | = | civil weddings |
| The plural of "siviilivihkiminen" (civil wedding). The plural for words ending in -nen: replace -nen with -set. | ||
| olivat | = | were |
| The third-person plural imperfect (simple past) of "olla" (to be). | ||
| ensimmäistä | = | the first |
| The partitive singular of "ensimmäinen" (the first). For words that end in -nen, replace the -nen with -sta/-stä. | ||
| kertaa | = | time (quantity) |
| The partitive singular of "kerta" (time). "Ensimmäistä kertaa" is the usual way of saying "for the first time". | ||
| suositumpia | = | more popular |
| The partitive singular of "suositumpi" (more popular), which in turn is the comparative of "suosittu" (popular). | ||
| kuin | = | than |
| kirkkohäät | = | church wedding |
Tilastokeskuksen mukaan viime vuonna vihittiin avioliittoon yhteensä lähes 24 500 paria.
According to Statistics Finland, last year a total of almost 24,500 couples were wed.
| Tilastokeskuksen | = | Statistics Finlands |
| The genitive singular of "Tilastokeskus" (Statistics Finland). The genitive for words that end in -us: remove the -s and add -ksen. | ||
| mukaan | = | according to |
| viime | = | last |
| viime vuonna | = | last year |
| vihittiin | = | were wed |
| The imperfect passive of "vihkiä" (to wed). The imperfect passive is formed by adding -ttiin to the weak stem. | ||
| avioliittoon | = | into marriage |
| The illative of "avioliitto" (marriage). For the illative, double the last vowel and add -n. Notice that there is no consonant gradation (from -tt- to -t-) before a long vowel (-oo-). Since by forming the illative you create a long vowel, there is no consonant gradation for word type A. That means that the illative is always strong. | ||
| yhteensä | = | in/a total |
| lähes | = | almost |
| paria | = | couples |
| The partitive of "pari" (couple). After numerals use partitive singular (except after "yksi"). |
Näistä hieman yli puolet eli 50,7 prosenttia oli siviilivihkimisiä.
Slightly more than half of them, that is, 50.7 per cent, were civil marriages.
| näistä | = | of these/them |
| The elative of "nämä" (these). | ||
| hieman | = | slightly/a little |
| yli | = | more than/over |
| puolet | = | half (noun) |
| eli | = | in other words/that is |
| prosenttia | = | per cent |
| The partitive of "prosentti" (per cent) | ||
| oli | = | was |
| The third-person singular imperfect of "olla" (to be). The singular is used because it refers to "prosenttia", which after a numeral is singular (except after "yksi"). | ||
| siviilivihkimisiä | = | civil marriages |
| The partitive plural of "siviilivihkiminen" (civil marriage). For words that end in -nen, remove the -nen and add -sia/-siä. |
Loput olivat kirkollisia häitä.
The rest were church weddings.
| loput | = | the rest |
| The plural of "loppu" (rest). | ||
| kirkollisia | = | "churchly", meaning ecclesiastical |
| The partitive plural of "kirkollinen" (ecclesiastical). | ||
| häitä | = | marriages |
| The partitive plural of "häät" (marriage). The stem of "häät" is "hää-". For words that end in a double vowel, the second vowel becomes -i. Then add "-ta/tä" for the partitive plural. Häät ➝ hää- ➝ häi-tä. |
Ilmiön syynä on se, että kirkkohäiden suosio on laskenut tasaisesti viime vuosina.
The reason for this phenomenon is that the popularity of church weddings has decreased steadily in recent years.
| ilmiön | = | phenomenon |
| syynä | = | (acting as) the reason |
| The essive singular of "syy" (reason). The essive ending is -na/-nä. "XY:n syynä on (se), että..." is the usual way of saying "The reason for XY is that...". The word "se" can be omitted. | ||
| että | = | that |
| kirkkohäiden | = | church weddings' |
| The genitive plural of "kirkkohäät" (church weddings). | ||
| suosio | = | popularity |
| on laskenut | = | has decreased |
| The past perfect third-person singular of "laskea" (to decrease). Past perfect is formed by using the conjugated forms of "olla" followed by the verb's stem (laske-) + -nut/-nyt/-neet (for type 1 and 2 verbs). | ||
| tasaisesti | = | evenly/steadily/smoothly |
| vuosina | = | in years |
| The essive plural of "vuosi" (year). |
Esimerkiksi vielä vuonna 2004 avioliittoja solmittiin kirkossa reilusti yli 18 000 kappaletta, kun taas vuonna 2014 enää vajaa 12 000.
For example, still in 2004 a bit over 18,000 marriages were contracted in churches, whereas in 2014 just less than 12,000.
| esimerkiksi | = | for example |
| The translative of "esimerkki" (example), formed by adding -ksi to the weak stem: esimerkki ➝ esimerki- (notice the consonant gradation) ➝ esimerkiksi. | ||
| vielä | = | still |
| solmittiin | = | were established/contracted |
| The imperfect passive of "solmia" (to establish/tie/contract). The imperfect passive for type 1 verbs: add -ttiin to the weak stem. | ||
| reilusti | = | fairly/justly |
| In this context "a bit". | ||
| kappaletta | = | units of |
| The partitive singular of "kappale" (piece/unit). Literally "18,000 units of marriages". Can be omitted. Often shortened to "kpl". | ||
| kun | = | when/as |
| taas | = | again |
| kun taas | = | while/whereas |
| enää | = | just/only/any more |
| vajaa | = | less than |
Samanaikaisesti 10 000–13 000 paria valitsee vuosittain siviilivihkimisen.
At the same time 10,000-13,000 couples choose a civil marriage annually.
| Samanaikaisesti | = | at the same time/simultaneously |
| valitsee | = | choose/elect |
| The third-person singular of "valita" (to choose/elect). Type 5 verb (verbs ending in -ita/itä) is conjugated by removing the -ta/tä and adding -tse- before the personal ending. Valita ➝ vali- ➝ vali-tse-e | ||
| vuosittain | = | annually |
Translation by Azrael Trailovic