Breakdown of Sää parantuu, vaikka eilen satoi.
sataa
to rain
sää
the weather
eilen
yesterday
vaikka
although / even though
parantua
to get better, to heal (recover)
Questions & Answers about Sää parantuu, vaikka eilen satoi.
How is the verb parantuu formed, and what does the -tuu ending do here?
Parantuu comes from the verb parantua (to get better, to improve). It is built by adding the automative suffix -tua to the stem of the transitive verb parantaa (to make something better, to cure). The suffix changes the focus: instead of someone improving something else, the weather is improving all on its own.
Can I also use parantua to talk about getting over a cold?
Yes! Since the root verb parantaa is often used for curing an illness or healing someone, the automative form parantua is exactly what you use to say you are recovering or getting well.
Why is there no word for 'it' before satoi?
In English, we need a dummy subject to say 'it rained.' In Finnish, weather verbs like sataa simply stand alone. Adding se (it) to make se satoi is a very common mistake for English speakers, but it sounds unnatural in Finnish.
Why does the translation say 'is improving' when parantuu is just the basic present tense?
Finnish does not have a separate continuous tense. The standard present tense form parantuu can translate to either 'improves' or 'is improving' in English, depending entirely on the context.
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