Learn Finnish: Pahoittele ja selitä, miksi kone on rikki! - Apologize and explain why the machine is broken!

In Finnish, indirect questions like miksi kone on rikki are treated as subordinate clauses. Because of this, you must place a comma before the question word that starts the indirect question, even though we wouldn't use one in English.

Does the word order change in the indirect question part?

No! In Finnish, the word order inside an indirect question is usually just like a regular statement: Subject + Verb + the rest. Here it is simply kone (the machine) + on (is) + rikki (broken).

How do we know pahoittele and selitä are commands?

These are the informal singular command forms, called the imperative. You make this form by taking the first-person singular form (like selitän, I explain) and dropping the final -n. So selitän becomes selitä, and pahoittelen becomes pahoittele.

Why use pahoittele instead of pyydä anteeksi for apologize?

Both mean to apologize, but pahoitella translates closer to expressing professional regret or saying you are sorry about a situation, like a broken machine. Pyytää anteeksi is a more direct, personal request for forgiveness.