Emphasizing Information: Se on X, joka...
When you want to single out a specific piece of information, you can use a structure similar to "It is X that..." in English. In Finnish, you frame the sentence with se on (it is) followed by the emphasized noun and the relative pronoun joka (that/who).
This structure is useful for pointing out a specific matter or clarifying a misunderstanding.
| It is specifically this matter that causes problems. | Se on nimenomaan tämä seikka, joka aiheuttaa ongelmia. |
You can also use this structure to mean "the one who" or to define a specific party in a disagreement.
| I must clarify that he is the one who started this disagreement. | Minun pitää tarkentaa, että hän on se, joka aloitti tämän erimielisyyden. |
| The party that makes the conclusion often knows the truth. | Se osapuoli, joka tekee johtopäätöksen, tietää usein totuuden. |
Inflecting 'joka' in the Relative Clause
The relative pronoun joka must take the appropriate case for its specific role inside the relative clause, regardless of what is happening in the main clause.
For example, if the relative clause expresses possession ("which has..."), joka becomes the adessive jolla. If it acts as the object of the relative clause's verb, it will take the partitive jota.
| It is your perspective that has a decisive effect. | Se on sinun näkökulmasi, jolla on ratkaiseva vaikutus. |
| I want to emphasize that it is this contradiction that we are trying to solve. | Haluan painottaa, että se on tämä ristiriita, jota yritämme ratkaista. |
Verbs that demand specific cases will also force joka to inflect. For instance, the verb keskittyä (to focus on) requires the illative case, turning joka into johon.
| It is this conclusion that we must focus on. | Se on tämä johtopäätös, johon meidän täytyy keskittyä. |
Plurals and Inflecting 'se'
If the emphasized entity is plural, both the demonstrative pronoun and the relative pronoun must be pluralized: se becomes ne (the ones) and joka becomes jotka (who/that).
| Those parties are the ones who can solve the disagreement. | Nuo osapuolet ovat ne, jotka voivat ratkaista erimielisyyden. |
Finally, if the emphasized noun acts as the object of the main clause, the demonstrative se inflects alongside it. For instance, the verb painottaa (to emphasize) takes a partitive object, so both se and the noun take the partitive case (sitä), even if joka remains in the nominative.
| We should emphasize the perspective that is positive. | Meidän kannattaa painottaa sitä näkökulmaa, joka on positiivinen. |