Adding Explanations with nimittäin
When you want to explain the reason for a statement you just made, you can use the explanatory word nimittäin. It translates to "namely" or "because," but often feels closest to the conversational English phrase "you see."
Unlike koska (because), which always sits at the very beginning of its clause, nimittäin has a strict delayed position. It never starts a sentence. Instead, it is placed right after the first grammatical element (usually a word or a short phrase) of the explanatory sentence.
If the explanatory sentence starts with the subject, nimittäin comes immediately after it:
| I am going to the observatory. My telescope is broken, you see. | Menen observatorioon. Kaukoputkeni on nimittäin rikki. |
| The Milky Way glows bright. The air is very clean, you see. | Linnunrata hohtaa kirkkaana. Ilma on nimittäin hyvin puhdas. |
If the explanatory sentence starts with a verb, a time word, or a negative verb (like en, et, or ei), nimittäin tucks in right behind that first element:
| I drank coffee at night. I wanted to see the comet, you see. | Join kahvia yöllä. Halusin nimittäin nähdä komeetan. |
| The sky is so dark! There is an eclipse today, you see. | Onpa taivas pimeä! Tänään on nimittäin pimennys. |
| Which constellation does that star belong to? I don't recognize it, you see. | Mihin tähtikuvioon tuo tähti kuuluu? En nimittäin tunnista sitä. |
Stargazing Phenomena
Here are a few more examples of nimittäin alongside cosmic vocabulary:
| This constellation is beautiful. It is located near the Milky Way, you see. | Tämä tähtikuvio on kaunis. Se sijaitsee nimittäin lähellä Linnunrataa. |
| Do not look into the sun! There is an eclipse now, you see. | Älkää katsoko aurinkoon! Nyt on nimittäin pimennys. |
| We often film the sky. The northern lights are wonderful, you see. | Kuvaamme usein taivasta. Revontulet ovat nimittäin upeita. |