Breakdown of Tämä ala on hyvä, jos olet ohjelmoija.
tämä
this
olla
to be
hyvä
good
jos
if
ala
field (area of study or work)
ohjelmoija
programmer
Questions & Answers about Tämä ala on hyvä, jos olet ohjelmoija.
Why is ohjelmoija in the nominative case here, and how would this look using the 'tulla' construction?
Because this sentence uses the verb olla (to be), the profession ohjelmoija is in the basic nominative form. If you wanted to say 'you become a programmer' using the tulla construction from this lesson, the profession would still be nominative, but the subject changes to the elative case: Sinusta tulee ohjelmoija.
How is the word ohjelmoija built?
It comes from the noun ohjelma (program). From there, we get the verb ohjelmoida (to program). By taking the verb stem and adding the suffix -ja, it turns into a noun for the person doing the action: ohjelmoija (programmer).
Does the word ala only mean a professional industry?
While it is most commonly used for a field of study or a professional industry, ala generally means 'area' or 'domain'. You will also recognize it as the root word for postpositions like alla (under) and alle (to under).
Why is there no word for 'you' before olet?
In Finnish, the first and second person pronouns (minä, sinä, me, te) are often dropped because the verb ending already makes the subject perfectly clear. The -t at the end of olet guarantees it means 'you are'.
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