Question 1

Why do we start the sentence with Se, mitä instead of just Mitä to mean "What"?

Accepted Answer

In English, you can start this kind of focusing sentence directly with "What". In Finnish, you need a "dummy" pronoun in the main clause for the relative clause to attach to. The main skeleton of this sentence is actually Se on olennainen ydin (That is the essential core), and the relative clause mitä etsimme simply sits inside it to modify Se.

Question 2

Why is the relative pronoun in the partitive case (mitä) when the word it refers back to (se) is nominative?

Accepted Answer

A relative pronoun always gets its case from its grammatical role inside its own relative clause, not from the main clause. In the clause mitä etsimme, the relative pronoun is the object of the verb etsiä (to look for). Because etsiä dictates that its object must be in the partitive case, the pronoun becomes mitä.

Question 3

Why is olennainen ydin in the nominative case instead of the partitive?

Accepted Answer

It acts as the subject complement (predicative) telling us exactly what Se is. Because Se refers to a singular, countable concept here (a specific "core") rather than an uncountable mass or an abstract substance, the complement takes the nominative case.

Question 4

Are the commas around mitä etsimme strictly necessary?

Accepted Answer

Yes, they are mandatory in Finnish punctuation. A relative clause must always be separated from the main clause by commas. Since the relative clause mitä etsimme interrupts the middle of the main clause (Se... on olennainen ydin), it requires a comma on both sides to wall it off.

Se, mitä etsimme, on olennainen ydin.

Breakdown of Se, mitä etsimme, on olennainen ydin.

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