Breakdown of Äitini on surullinen, että koira on sairas.
olla
to be
koira
dog
sairas
sick
äiti
mother
että
that (conjunction)
surullinen
sad
Questions & Answers about Äitini on surullinen, että koira on sairas.
Why is there a comma before että?
In Finnish, you must always put a comma before the conjunction että (that) when it connects two clauses. This is a strict punctuation rule, unlike in English where a comma before 'that' is usually incorrect.
Does the word order change after että?
No, it stays exactly the same! Finnish keeps the standard subject-verb word order inside an että clause. The second part is simply koira on sairas (the dog is sick), just as it would be if it were a standalone sentence.
Why is the word for 'my mother' just äitini instead of minun äitini?
The word äitini includes the base word äiti (mother) and the first-person possessive suffix -ni (my). You can say minun äitini, but dropping the minun is very common and completely correct because the suffix already tells us whose mother it is.
Can I use this että structure to explain other feelings?
Absolutely. Just like in English, you can state an emotion and follow it with an että clause to explain the reason. You could swap surullinen (sad) for iloinen (happy) or vihainen (angry) using this exact same sentence pattern.
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