Breakdown of Jokainen ansaitsee tulla oikeudenmukaisesti kohdelluksi.
tulla
to become
ansaita
to earn
jokainen
every / each (declinable)
oikeudenmukaisesti
fairly
kohdella
to treat
Questions & Answers about Jokainen ansaitsee tulla oikeudenmukaisesti kohdelluksi.
Why do we use tulla and kohdelluksi to say 'to be treated'?
This is the exact structure this lesson focuses on: using the verb tulla (to become) plus the passive past participle in the translative case (-ksi). Because Finnish doesn't have a direct translation for the English passive infinitive 'to be done', this combination literally means 'to become into a state of having been treated', which perfectly captures 'to be treated'.
Why can't we just use the regular passive form of kohdella here?
The regular Finnish passive is strictly used when 'someone' does something as the main verb of a clause. However, you cannot attach a regular passive directly to a verb like ansaita (to deserve). To say a specific person deserves or wants to be on the receiving end of an action, you must use this tulla + translative participle structure.
How does the word kohdelluksi get its form?
The base verb is kohdella (to treat). Its passive past participle is kohdeltu (having been treated). When we add the translative ending -ksi required by this construction, it triggers consonant gradation. The -lt- combination softens to -ll-, making the final word kohdelluksi.
Why is the adverb oikeudenmukaisesti placed right in the middle of the tulla ... -ksi structure?
In this construction, adverbs that describe how the action is done usually sit right between tulla and the participle. It feels very natural in Finnish to keep the modifier directly before the participle it describes, very similar to saying 'to be fairly treated' in English.
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