Breakdown of Rakennamme rampin, jotta jokainen kykenee osallistumaan.
rakentaa
to build
osallistua
to participate
jotta
so that / in order to
jokainen
every / each (declinable)
kyetä
to be able to
ramppi
ramp
Questions & Answers about Rakennamme rampin, jotta jokainen kykenee osallistumaan.
Why is "to participate" written as osallistumaan instead of the basic dictionary form osallistua?
This is because of the verb kyetä (to be able to). In Finnish, verbs of capability like kyetä and pystyä demand that the following action verb is in the 3rd infinitive illative form, which always ends in -maan or -mään. You can't say kykenee osallistua.
Could I use voi (from voida) instead of kykenee here?
Yes, but you would have to change the grammar of the next verb! While kykenee requires the -maan/-mään form (kykenee osallistumaan), voida requires the basic dictionary form (voi osallistua). Kyetä and pystyä also emphasize actual physical or mental capability a bit more than voida, making them perfect for talking about accessibility.
Why use jotta instead of että for "so that"?
Jotta specifically expresses a purpose or intention, meaning "in order to" or "so that". Että simply means "that" (as in "I know that you are here"). When you do action A specifically so that B can happen, jotta is the correct conjunction to use.
Why does ramppi have an -n at the end (rampin)?
It is the total object of the sentence. Because we intend to build one whole, completed ramp, the object takes the accusative case, which looks identical to the genitive case (ending in -n). If the building process were viewed as ongoing or incomplete, we would use the partitive case (ramppia).
Why is the verb kykenee in the singular ("he/she is able to") when the English translation says "everyone"?
In Finnish, the pronoun jokainen literally means "each one" or "every one" and acts grammatically as a singular word. Therefore, it requires the verb to be in the singular 3rd person form (kykenee), just like in English we say "everyone is" instead of "everyone are".
Learn Rakennamme rampin, jotta jokainen kykenee osallistumaan 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