Breakdown of Se oli nälkävuosi, jolloin isoisästä tuli siirtolainen.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
tulla
to become
isoisä
grandfather
jolloin
when / at which time (relative)
nälkävuosi
year of famine
siirtolainen
immigrant / emigrant (migrant)
Questions & Answers about Se oli nälkävuosi, jolloin isoisästä tuli siirtolainen.
Why does this sentence use jolloin instead of kun for "when"?
Kun is a conjunction used to link two events happening at the same time. Jolloin, however, is a relative adverb that must refer back to a specific time-related noun in the previous clause. Here, it points directly back to nälkävuosi (year of famine), acting like "during which".
Why is "grandfather" written as isoisästä with the -stä ending?
When expressing that someone or something becomes something, Finnish uses the verb tulla and puts the starting subject in the elative case (-sta or -stä, normally meaning "out of"). So, isoisästä tuli siirtolainen literally translates to "out of grandfather came an immigrant."
How does the word nälkävuosi break down?
It is a compound word made of nälkä (hunger) and vuosi (year). In Finnish, a "hunger year" is the standard historical term used to describe a year of famine.
Does siirtolainen mean immigrant or emigrant?
It broadly covers both! A siirtolainen is a migrant who moves to another country for permanent settlement. If you need to be highly specific, an immigrant is a maahanmuuttaja (mover into the country) and an emigrant is a maastamuuttaja (mover out of the country).
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