Breakdown of Asiakas haluaa näyttää, missä tahra on.
olla
to be
missä
where
haluta
to want
asiakas
the customer
näyttää
to show
tahra
stain
Questions & Answers about Asiakas haluaa näyttää, missä tahra on.
Does the word order change for the indirect question here, like it does in English?
No, the word order stays exactly the same! A direct question is Missä tahra on? (Where is the stain?). When you turn it into an indirect question, you just plug the exact same phrase right in: ...missä tahra on (...where the stain is). Finnish doesn't scramble the words like English does.
Why is there a comma before missä?
In Finnish, you must use a comma to separate two clauses that both have their own verbs. The main clause (Asiakas haluaa näyttää) has the verbs for wanting and showing, and the indirect question clause (missä tahra on) has the verb for being. The comma separates these two distinct parts of the sentence.
I remember learning that näyttää means "to look like". How do we know it means "to show" in this sentence?
Grammar context is the biggest clue! When näyttää means "to look like", it is usually followed by a word with a -lta/-ltä or -lle ending, such as näyttää hyvältä (looks good). Here, it is followed by an indirect question about a physical location, so it takes its other meaning: "to show".
Why is näyttää in its basic dictionary form without any person endings?
It is part of a verb chain. When you have two verbs together like "wants to show", only the first verb is conjugated. Haluaa (wants) gets the third-person ending to match the customer (asiakas), while the second verb, näyttää, stays in its basic infinitive form.
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