Breakdown of Meidän olisi pitänyt varautua, sillä varoitus oli selkeä.
olla
to be
me
we
selkeä
clear
pitää
must / have to
sillä
for / because (coordinating)
varautua
to prepare for
varoitus
warning
Questions & Answers about Meidän olisi pitänyt varautua, sillä varoitus oli selkeä.
Why is the verb olisi instead of olisimme when the English translation says "we"?
With verbs of obligation like pitää, the sentence structure is impersonal. The person who is obligated is put in the genitive case (meidän), and the verb is always locked into the 3rd person singular. Therefore, we use olisi rather than olisimme, and the singular participle pitänyt.
How exactly does olisi pitänyt mean "should have"?
Pitää means "to have to" or "must". When you put it in the conditional perfect tense (olisi + past participle pitänyt), it literally translates to "would have had to". In English, we usually express this exact same idea by saying "should have".
Why use varautua here instead of a more common word for preparing, like valmistautua?
While valmistautua means "to get ready" or "prepare" in a general sense, varautua specifically means preparing as a precaution against a risk, threat, or specific future situation. Because there was a warning (varoitus), varautua is the perfect word to show they needed to take defensive precautions.
Could I use koska instead of sillä in this sentence?
Yes, you could. Both words mean "because", but sillä is slightly more formal and often translates beautifully to "for" in English, as it does here. Note that sillä is a coordinating conjunction, so it connects two independent clauses without changing the word order.
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