Word
Kansalaiset äänestävät usein syksyllä.
Meaning
Citizens vote often in the autumn.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Kansalaiset äänestävät usein syksyllä.
usein
often
syksy
autumn
kansalainen
the citizen
äänestää
to vote
Questions & Answers about Kansalaiset äänestävät usein syksyllä.
Since we are learning the passive voice, how would we change this sentence to mean "People vote often in the autumn"?
In Finnish, the passive voice is used when the doer of the action is unknown or just "people in general". Our sentence has a specific subject (kansalaiset), so it uses the active 3rd person plural form (äänestävät). To say "People vote" or "Voting happens", you drop the subject and use the passive form: Syksyllä äänestetään usein.
How is the passive form of äänestää used in spoken Finnish?
A very common use of the passive voice in everyday spoken Finnish is to replace the standard "we" form. To say "We vote", instead of the formal me äänestämme, people will almost always use the passive and say me äänestetään.
Why does syksy (autumn) end in -llä here?
It is in the adessive case (-llä or -lla). When expressing when something happens, seasons in Finnish typically take this ending. Examples include syksyllä (in autumn), talvella (in winter), keväällä (in spring), and kesällä (in summer).
How is the word kansalaiset (citizens) formed?
It is built from the root word kansa, which means "a nation" or "a people". The suffix -lainen (which becomes -laiset in the plural) is used to describe a person belonging to a certain place or group. Therefore, kansalainen means "citizen", and kansalaiset is the plural.