When discussing diverse topics like marine biology, you will frequently need to break broad categories down into specific examples. To illustrate a group or show that things are alike, Finnish uses the highly versatile connector kuten.
Giving Examples
In its most common role, kuten translates to "such as" or "like." You can use it to introduce a list of examples at the end of a sentence.
| A seal is a mammal, like a whale and a dolphin. | Hylje on nisäkäs, kuten valas ja delfiini. |
You can also use commas to embed these examples right in the middle of a sentence, framing the specific species within the broader category.
| Large animals, such as the whale and the turtle, need oxygen. | Isot eläimet, kuten valas ja kilpikonna, tarvitsevat happea. |
Matching Grammatical Cases
Finnish relies heavily on its case system, and kuten respects this structure. When you use kuten to list examples of a category, the examples must grammatically match the case of the category word.
For instance, if your broad category is in the partitive plural, every example that follows kuten must also take the partitive plural.
| There are many animals in the sea, such as whales and jellyfish. | Meressä on monia eläimiä, kuten valaita ja meduusoja. |
Notice how eläimiä (animals) is in the partitive plural, which forces valaita (whales) and meduusoja (jellyfish) into the partitive plural as well.
Equating Manner and Knowledge
Beyond just listing items, kuten is used to equate manner—showing that something is done or exists "in the way that" something else does. It translates smoothly to "like" when comparing two similar things, or "as" when introducing a known fact.
| A dolphin is a smart animal, like a dog. | Delfiini on viisas eläin, kuten koirakin. |
| An octopus is an incredible animal, as everyone knows. | Mustekala on uskomaton eläin, kuten kaikki tietävät. |
Connecting Results with joten
While exploring these ocean habitats, you will frequently see kuten paired with another similarly spelled connector: joten (so / therefore). While kuten provides examples, joten is a coordinating conjunction used to connect a cause to its logical result.
| Many whales are large, so they need a lot of food. | Moni valas on suuri, joten se tarvitsee paljon ruokaa. |
| The jellyfish is dangerous, so do not touch it! | Meduusa on vaarallinen, joten älä koske siihen! |