Question 1

Why do we say siihen nähden, että instead of just nähden, että?

Accepted Answer

In Finnish, you generally cannot attach an että (that) clause directly to an adposition like nähden (considering / in relation to). You need a pronoun bridge. You use a form of the pronoun se (it) with the adposition, followed by the että clause. Literally, it translates to in relation to it, that...

Question 2

Why is the pronoun se specifically in the illative case (siihen)?

Accepted Answer

The adposition nähden always requires the word it modifies to be in the illative case. Because the että clause is acting as the object of this adposition, the bridge pronoun se must take the illative ending, becoming siihen.

Question 3

Can nähden be used without siihen in other contexts?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you are comparing something to a noun rather than a whole clause. For example, you might say someone is tall ikäänsä nähden (considering their age). Notice how ikäänsä is also in the illative case here, just like siihen.

Question 4

Why is huonoja in the plural partitive case instead of the plural nominative (huonot)?

Accepted Answer

The subject of the että clause is opetus ja arviointi (teaching and assessment). When a subject consists of multiple abstract concepts, the predicative adjective describing them takes the plural partitive. If the subjects were specific countable objects, you would typically use the plural nominative huonot.

Lukukausimaksu on korkea siihen nähden, että opetus ja arviointi ovat huonoja.

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