Making Demands and Proposals
When navigating a labor dispute or negotiating a contract, you often need to express strong suggestions, requirements, or demands. In Finnish, you will frequently use verbs like vaatia (to demand), ehdottaa (to propose), and edellyttää (to require).
The "Että" + Conditional Rule
In English, we often use the subjunctive mood or the word "should" for formal demands (e.g., "The union demands that the employer listen").
In Finnish, when a main verb expresses a demand, proposal, or requirement, the following että (that) clause must use the conditional mood.
You can recognize the conditional mood by its characteristic marker -isi- attached to the verb stem.
| The trade union demands that the employer listen to us. | Ammattiliitto vaatii, että työnantaja kuuntelisi meitä. |
| The trade union proposes that the pay raise be ten percent. | Ammattiliitto ehdottaa, että palkankorotus olisi kymmenen prosenttia. |
Using "Sitä" as a Placeholder
Often, you will see the word sitä (the partitive form of se, "it") placed right before the että clause. This acts as a grammatical placeholder, directly linking the verb of demanding or requiring to the subordinate clause that follows it.
| The employer requires that the employees have more responsibility. | Työnantaja edellyttää sitä, että työntekijöillä olisi enemmän vastuuta. |
| The trade union demands that overtime be compensated fairly. | Ammattiliitto vaatii sitä, että ylityö korvattaisiin oikeudenmukaisesti. |
Navigating Intense Negotiations
This structure remains consistent even when the että clause is negative. In negative conditional sentences, the negative verb (en, et, ei, etc.) takes the person ending, and the main verb simply ends in the -isi marker.
| The employer proposes that nobody should need to do overtime for free. | Työnantaja ehdottaa, että kenenkään ei tarvitsisi tehdä ylityötä ilmaiseksi. |
You can also frame these conditional demands with strong adjectives, like kohtuuton (unreasonable) or joustamaton (inflexible), to describe the tone of the negotiations.
| It is unreasonable to demand that we should be able to work without breaks. | On kohtuutonta vaatia, että me pystyisimme työskentelemään ilman taukoja. |
| The employer is inflexible and demands that everyone return to the office. | Työnantaja on joustamaton ja vaatii, että kaikki palaisivat toimistoon. |