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### Building an Argument That Holds Together

You can already justify an opinion (**perustella**, position 182) and contrast two sides (**toisaalta ... toisaalta**, one lesson back). What is still missing is the skeleton: the words that tell a listener *this is my first point, this is my second, this is the last one*. Finnish argumentative style leans on these hard — an opinion piece (mielipidekirjoitus) is expected to walk through its points in marked order.

| connector | English | job |
|---|---|---|
| **ensinnäkin** | firstly | opens the list |
| **toiseksi** | secondly | continues it |
| **lopuksi** | in closing | closes the speech or text |
| **lopulta** | eventually, in the end | closes the *events* |
| **lisäksi** | in addition | adds a point |
| **sitä paitsi** | besides | adds a point with attitude |

{{item:981465}}

Note the pair at the bottom of the table: **lopuksi** is for the *text* ("finally, I want to thank..."), **lopulta** is for the *world* ("in the end, everyone understood"). Mixing them is a classic learner error.

### Saying It Another Way

**Toisin sanoen** (in other words) restates a point in formal register — you know its casual cousin **eli** from position 271. **Itse asiassa** (as a matter of fact) corrects or sharpens, and is stronger than **oikeastaan**. **Ennen kaikkea** (above all) marks the point that outranks the rest.

{{item:981483}}

### Taking a Stance

The collocation **ottaa kantaa** + illative is how Finnish says *to take a position on something*: politicians, papers and referees all *ottavat kantaa*. There is no single-word verb for it.

{{item:981493}}

Structuring an argument (ensinnäkin, toisin sanoen)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
firstly (to begin with)	ensinnäkin
Firstly, this plan is too expensive.	Ensinnäkin tämä suunnitelma on liian kallis.
Firstly, I want to thank you all.	Ensinnäkin haluan kiittää teitä kaikkia.
secondly (in an enumeration)	toiseksi
Secondly, the schedule is bad.	Toiseksi aikataulu on huono.
Secondly, we have no money.	Toiseksi meillä ei ole rahaa.
in closing, lastly	lopuksi
In closing, I want to say something important.	Lopuksi haluan sanoa jotakin tärkeää.
In closing, we thank all the guests.	Lopuksi kiitämme kaikkia vieraita.
eventually, in the end	lopulta
In the end, everyone understood the problem.	Lopulta kaikki ymmärsivät ongelman.
Eventually they found a good solution.	Lopulta he löysivät hyvän ratkaisun.
in addition, furthermore	lisäksi
In addition, we need more time.	Lisäksi tarvitsemme lisää aikaa.
In addition, the hotel is near the station.	Lisäksi hotelli on lähellä asemaa.
besides, what is more	sitä paitsi
Besides, this restaurant is expensive.	Sitä paitsi tämä ravintola on kallis.
Besides, the weather is bad today.	Sitä paitsi sää on huono tänään.
in other words	toisin sanoen
In other words, we agree.	Toisin sanoen olemme samaa mieltä.
In other words, the trip is too expensive for us.	Toisin sanoen matka on liian kallis meille.
as a matter of fact	itse asiassa
As a matter of fact, the problem is easy to solve.	Itse asiassa ongelma on helppo ratkaista.
As a matter of fact, I like this city.	Itse asiassa pidän tästä kaupungista.
above all	ennen kaikkea
Above all, family is important to me.	Ennen kaikkea perhe on minulle tärkeä.
Above all, I want to learn to speak Finnish.	Ennen kaikkea haluan oppia puhumaan suomea.
to take a stance (on)	ottaa kantaa
The government takes a stance on the problem tomorrow.	Hallitus ottaa kantaa ongelmaan huomenna.
I want to take a stance on this claim.	Haluan ottaa kantaa tähän väitteeseen.

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