Breakdown of Olen surullinen, että sinä lähdet.
olla
to be
sinä
you
lähteä
to leave
että
that (conjunction)
surullinen
sad
Questions & Answers about Olen surullinen, että sinä lähdet.
Why is there a comma before että?
In Finnish, you almost always put a comma before the conjunction että (that) when it introduces a subordinate clause. This is a strict punctuation rule that differs from English, where we usually leave the comma out.
Does the word että change the word order in the second part of the sentence?
No, it doesn't. Unlike some other languages, Finnish keeps the standard word order in subordinate clauses. The clause että sinä lähdet uses the normal subject-verb order.
Why is lähteä (to leave) spelled with a "d" here as lähdet?
This is a quick refresher on consonant gradation. Adding the personal ending -t for "you" closes the syllable. This softens the strong t in the stem of lähteä into a weak d.
The English translation says "are leaving", but is lähdet just the normal present tense?
Exactly. Finnish doesn't have a separate continuous tense (like the English "am doing" or "are leaving"). The present tense verb lähdet covers both "you leave" and "you are leaving".
Could I drop the word sinä from this sentence?
Yes, you can say Olen surullinen, että lähdet. The verb ending -t already makes it perfectly clear that "you" are the one leaving. Including sinä just adds a little bit of emphasis.
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