Breakdown of Kotiintuloaika on ehdoton sekä viikolla että viikonloppuna, sikäli kuin minä päätän asiasta.
olla
to be
minä
I
että
that (conjunction)
asia
thing, matter
Questions & Answers about Kotiintuloaika on ehdoton sekä viikolla että viikonloppuna, sikäli kuin minä päätän asiasta.
How is sikäli kuin different from just using jos (if) in this sentence?
While jos simply means "if", sikäli kuin translates to "insofar as" or "to the extent that". It is slightly more formal and emphasizes the limit or scope of the condition. Here, the speaker is saying the curfew is strict specifically within the boundaries of their authority.
Why is "during the week" expressed with the adessive case (viikolla) but "on the weekend" uses the essive case (viikonloppuna)?
Time expressions in Finnish have specific rules. While days of the week and weekends generally take the essive case (ending in -na or -nä, like viikonloppuna or sunnuntaina), the word viikko (week) takes the adessive case (ending in -lla or -llä) to mean "during the week".
What is the literal meaning of the word ehdoton?
It literally means "unconditional". It is formed from the noun ehto (condition) and the suffix -ton (without). When applied to a rule or curfew like kotiintuloaika, an "unconditional" rule translates naturally to a "strict" or "absolute" one.
Why does the word for "matter" (asia) end in -sta here?