Breakdown of Tiedän hänen pyrkivän hyvään opiskelupaikkaan.
hän
he / she
hyvä
good
tietää
to know
pyrkiä
to strive for / to apply to
opiskelupaikka
study place
Questions & Answers about Tiedän hänen pyrkivän hyvään opiskelupaikkaan.
Why is 'hyvään opiskelupaikkaan' in the illative case here?
The verb pyrkiä (to strive, to aim for) is a goal-oriented verb. In Finnish, verbs expressing a movement towards a goal—whether literal or abstract like a study placement—require the target to be in the illative case (the 'into' case). That's why both the adjective hyvä and the noun opiskelupaikka take the illative endings, becoming hyvään opiskelupaikkaan.
Why does the sentence use 'hänen pyrkivän' instead of 'että hän pyrkii'?
This is a shorter, more advanced way to express an että (that) clause, often called the referative structure. Instead of saying Tiedän, että hän pyrkii (I know that he is aiming), the subject hän is put into the genitive case (hänen) and the verb is changed to the active present participle form (pyrkivän). Both mean the exact same thing, but this structure is very common in written Finnish and formal speech.
Does 'pyrkiä' always translate to 'aiming for'?
It translates to 'aiming for' or 'striving for', but in the specific context of schools, universities, or politics, it is the standard verb for 'applying' or 'running for'. Here, aiming for a opiskelupaikka (study place) essentially means he is applying or trying to get admitted to a good school or university program.
If I wanted to say 'I know that YOU are aiming for a good place to study', how would the 'hänen pyrkivän' part change?
You would change the genitive pronoun to match 'you' (sinun), and add the corresponding possessive suffix to the participle: sinun pyrkiväsi. The full sentence would be Tiedän sinun pyrkiväsi hyvään opiskelupaikkaan. In colloquial Finnish, people often skip the suffix and just say sun pyrkivän.
Learn Tiedän hänen pyrkivän hyvään opiskelupaikkaan and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free