Breakdown of Asiakkaiden edessä teidän on pukeuduttava asiallisesti.
olla
to be
te
you (plural/formal)
edessä
in front of
asiakas
the customer
pukeutua
to dress
asiallisesti
appropriately
Questions & Answers about Asiakkaiden edessä teidän on pukeuduttava asiallisesti.
Why does this sentence use teidän on pukeuduttava instead of a normal verb like täytyy to mean 'must'?
This is a formal and very strong way to express obligation in Finnish. It uses the genitive subject (teidän), the third-person singular of the verb 'to be' (on), and the passive present participle of the main verb (pukeuduttava). It means the exact same thing as teidän täytyy pukeutua, but it sounds more like an official rule or a strict policy.
Why is the verb olla conjugated as on (third-person singular) when the subject is teidän (you plural)?
In Finnish obligation structures (including those with täytyy or pitää), the grammatical subject is in the genitive case, which is teidän here. Because there is no nominative subject, the main verb cannot 'agree' with anything and always defaults to the third-person singular (on).
How is the form pukeuduttava built from the dictionary verb?
It comes from the verb pukeutua (to dress oneself). To make the passive present participle for this obligation structure, you take the passive form pukeudutaan (people dress), remove the final -an, and add -va. This gives you pukeuduttava.
Why is asiakkaiden in the genitive plural?
It is the complement of the postposition edessä (in front of). Most Finnish postpositions require the word coming right before them to be in the genitive case. Since it refers to multiple 'customers', we use the plural genitive form of asiakas, which is asiakkaiden.
How is the adverb asiallisesti formed?
The dictionary word for 'appropriate' or 'businesslike' is the adjective asiallinen. To turn this into an adverb (adding '-ly' in English, like 'appropriately'), you drop the final -nen, add the stem marker -se-, and attach the adverb suffix -sti, making asiallisesti.
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