Breakdown of Jos lukukausimaksu on liian korkea, opiskelijat valittavat.
olla
to be
opiskelija
student
jos
if
valittaa
to complain
Questions & Answers about Jos lukukausimaksu on liian korkea, opiskelijat valittavat.
How can we rewrite this sentence to use the "siitä, että" structure we are currently learning?
The verb valittaa (to complain) usually takes the elative case (-sta/-stä). To say "complain about the fact that", we need a pronoun bridge. We put the pronoun se into the elative (siitä) and follow it with an että clause. We can flip the sentence around to say: Opiskelijat valittavat siitä, että lukukausimaksu on liian korkea. (Students complain about the fact that the tuition fee is too high.)
Why does the English translation say "will complain" when valittavat is in the present tense?
Finnish does not have a dedicated future tense. Instead, the present tense handles both present and future meanings. Because the sentence sets up an "if" (jos) condition, it is clear from the context that the complaining is a future result.
Why is the word korkea (high) used here instead of kallis (expensive)?
In Finnish, words for prices, fees, and abstract amounts (like maksu, hinta, or vuokra) are described as being "high" (korkea) or "low" (matala). The actual item or service you are paying for, like a car or an education, would be "expensive" (kallis), but the fee itself is "high".
How does the compound word lukukausimaksu break down?