Breakdown of Valitse se ammatti, joksi haluat valmistua!
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
haluta
to want
valita
to choose
ammatti
profession
valmistua
to graduate, to be completed
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Valitse se ammatti, joksi haluat valmistua!
Why is the relative pronoun joka in the translative case (joksi)?
The verb valmistua (to graduate) implies a change of state, as you are becoming something new. In Finnish, this change into a new role or state triggers the translative case. Because the pronoun refers back to the profession you are becoming, joka becomes joksi.
Could I use the essive case (jona) instead, since the translation says "as which"?
No, because of the verb valmistua. If you were talking about working as a certain profession (a steady, continuous state), you would use the essive jona (for example, ammatti, jona työskentelen). Because graduating involves changing into that profession, you must use the translative joksi.
Why is the object se ammatti in the basic nominative form instead of having an -n ending?
This is because valitse is an imperative verb (a command). When giving a command in Finnish, the total object drops the normal accusative -n ending and takes the basic nominative form instead.
Is se just functioning as the word "the" here?
Yes! Although se literally means "it" or "that", Finnish often uses it similarly to the English definite article "the" to point out a specific thing, especially right before a relative clause.
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