Word
Oppivelvollisuus on tärkeä siitä huolimatta, että se ei ole aina tasa-arvoinen.
Meaning
Compulsory education is important despite the fact that it is not always equal.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Oppivelvollisuus on tärkeä siitä huolimatta, että se ei ole aina tasa-arvoinen.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
aina
always
Questions & Answers about Oppivelvollisuus on tärkeä siitä huolimatta, että se ei ole aina tasa-arvoinen.
Why do we need the word siitä before huolimatta, että?
In Finnish, adpositions like huolimatta generally cannot attach directly to an että (that) clause. To make it work, we use the pronoun se (it) as a bridge. The literal structure is "important despite it, that...".
Why is the bridge pronoun in the elative case (siitä)?
The postposition huolimatta (despite / regardless of) always requires the word it modifies to be in the elative case (-sta / -stä). Because of this rule, the bridge pronoun se must take the form siitä.
How is the compound word oppivelvollisuus constructed?
It is built from oppi (learning or education) and velvollisuus (duty or obligation). In Finland, this refers to the legal duty of a child to participate in basic education.
Could I use samanlainen instead of tasa-arvoinen to mean equal here?
No, because they mean different things. Samanlainen means equal in the sense of being "identical" or "the same kind". Tasa-arvoinen literally translates to "equal-valued" (tasa + arvo + -inen) and is the correct word for equality of rights, status, or fairness.