Breakdown of Uskon, että asiantuntija pitää tilannetta uhkana.
että
that (conjunction)
tilanne
situation
uskoa
to believe
asiantuntija
expert
pitää
to consider (as)
uhka
threat
Questions & Answers about Uskon, että asiantuntija pitää tilannetta uhkana.
Why does pitää mean "considers" here instead of "likes" or "has to"?
When the verb pitää is followed by an object in the partitive case (here, tilannetta) and a state/role in the essive case (here, uhkana), it forms a specific structure meaning "to consider [something] as [something]".
Why are the words tilannetta and uhkana in those specific cases?
This is the strict rule for this opinion-expressing structure. The thing being evaluated (tilanne) must be the partitive object (tilannetta). The word describing what it is considered to be (uhka) must take the essive case ending -na/-nä (uhkana).
If I wanted to use luulla (to suppose / mistakenly think) instead of pitää, would the endings change?
Yes! While pitää requires the essive case (-na/-nä), the verb luulla requires the translative case (-ksi) for the role. If the expert mistakenly thought the situation was a threat, the sentence would be: asiantuntija luulee tilannetta uhkaksi.
Is it possible to drop the word että here, just like we can drop "that" in English ("I believe the expert...")?
No. In Finnish, the conjunction että is mandatory when connecting a main clause like uskon to a subordinate clause. You cannot leave it out.
How is the word asiantuntija (expert) formed?
It is a compound word made of asian (the genitive form of asia, meaning "matter" or "thing") and tuntija (a person who knows, from the verb tuntea). Literally, an expert is a "knower of the matter".
Learn Uskon, että asiantuntija pitää tilannetta uhkana 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