Breakdown of Lihakset tarvitsevat aikaa, jotta ne vahvistuvat.
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
aika
time (concept, duration)
tarvita
to need
lihas
muscle
jotta
so that / in order to
vahvistua
to get stronger
Questions & Answers about Lihakset tarvitsevat aikaa, jotta ne vahvistuvat.
Why use jotta here instead of just että?
Jotta specifically expresses purpose or intention, meaning "so that" or "in order that". Että simply means "that" and is used to report a fact (like "I know that..."). Here, the time is needed for the specific purpose of getting stronger, so jotta is required.
The verb vahvistuvat looks a lot like the adjective vahva (strong). Are they related?
Yes! Vahvistua is a verb derived directly from vahva. In Finnish, adding the -stu- or -sty- suffix to an adjective creates a verb that means "to become [adjective]". So, vahva (strong) becomes vahvistua (to get stronger).
Why is aika (time) in the partitive case (aikaa) in this sentence?
Because time is an abstract, uncountable concept. When the object of a verb like tarvita (to need) is an undefined or continuous amount of something uncountable, Finnish requires it to be in the partitive case.
The singular word for muscle is lihas. Why does it change to lihakset in the plural?
Lihas belongs to a specific group of Finnish words ending in -s where the stem changes the -s to -ks- before adding endings. To form the plural, you take the stem lihakse- and add the standard plural marker -t.
Learn Lihakset tarvitsevat aikaa, jotta ne vahvistuvat and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free