Breakdown of Se on johtaja, joka ratkaisee tämän ristiriidan.
tämä
this
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
johtaja
the director
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
ratkaista
to solve (a problem, puzzle)
ristiriita
contradiction
Questions & Answers about Se on johtaja, joka ratkaisee tämän ristiriidan.
Why use the Se on... joka... structure instead of a simple sentence like Johtaja ratkaisee tämän ristiriidan?
Since johtaja is a person, could we use kuka instead of joka for the word 'who'?
No, you must use joka. In standard Finnish, kuka is a question word ('who?'), while joka is the relative pronoun used to refer back to previously mentioned nouns, regardless of whether they are people or things.
Why is the object tämän ristiriidan in the genitive-looking form?
It is in the accusative case, which looks identical to the genitive for singular nouns. The verb ratkaista (to solve) takes a total object here because solving a conflict is seen as a complete, bounded action, rather than an ongoing or incomplete process.
What causes the consonant change in the word ristiriidan?
The base form is ristiriita (conflict). Adding the -n ending closes the final syllable, which triggers consonant gradation. The strong grade t in the second half of the word (riita) weakens to a d, resulting in ristiriidan.
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