Breakdown of Opettaja ei kerro myyttejä, vaan faktoja, jotta meidän ei tarvitse arvata.
me
we
opettaja
teacher
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
tarvita
to need
kertoa
to tell
arvata
to guess
vaan
but rather (after a negative)
jotta
so that / in order to
fakta
fact
myytti
myth
Questions & Answers about Opettaja ei kerro myyttejä, vaan faktoja, jotta meidän ei tarvitse arvata.
Why do we use vaan here instead of mutta for 'but'?
Vaan is used after a negative statement to mean 'but rather' or 'instead'. Because the first part says the teacher does not tell myths (ei kerro), we must use vaan to introduce the contrasting replacement (facts). Using mutta here would sound unnatural.
Why are both myyttejä and faktoja in the partitive case?
The object of a negative sentence in Finnish is always in the partitive case. Because ei kerro is negative, myyttejä takes the partitive plural. Faktoja is also partitive because vaan connects it back to the exact same negative verb.
Why is the word for 'we' in the genitive form meidän?
This is because of the verb tarvita (to need). In Finnish necessity sentences, the person who has to do something must be put in the genitive case. Therefore, the basic pronoun me becomes meidän.
Could I use että instead of jotta?
Jotta is much more precise because it specifically means 'so that' or 'in order to', showing the purpose of the action. Että simply means 'that'. While you might hear että used for purpose in casual speech, jotta is the correct grammatical choice here.
Learn Opettaja ei kerro myyttejä, vaan faktoja, jotta meidän ei tarvitse arvata 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