Breakdown of Minä olen tarjoilijana ravintolassa.
olla
to be
minä
I
ravintola
restaurant
tarjoilija
the waiter
Questions & Answers about Minä olen tarjoilijana ravintolassa.
Why is it tarjoilijana instead of just tarjoilija?
The -na ending is the essive case. It translates to 'as a waiter'. While Minä olen tarjoilija means 'I am a waiter' (as a permanent profession or identity), saying Minä olen tarjoilijana implies 'I am working as a waiter' as a current role or temporary job.
Why does tarjoilijana use -na instead of -nä?
This is due to vowel harmony. The word tarjoilija contains the back vowels a and o. Because of these back vowels, the word must take the back-vowel ending -na.
The English translation says 'I am working', but the Finnish sentence only uses olen. Do I need to add a word for 'working'?
No, you do not! In Finnish, combining the verb olla (to be) with a noun in the essive case naturally means you are acting in that role or working as that profession. You don't need a separate verb like työskentelen (I work) here.
What case is ravintolassa in?
It is in the inessive case. The ending -ssa means 'in' or 'inside', so ravintolassa tells us the action is happening inside the restaurant.
Learn Minä olen tarjoilijana ravintolassa and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free