Breakdown of Meduusa on vaarallinen, joten älä koske siihen!
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
älä
don't (negative imperative)
vaarallinen
dangerous
koskea
to touch
joten
so, therefore
meduusa
jellyfish
Questions & Answers about Meduusa on vaarallinen, joten älä koske siihen!
This lesson is about kuten (like/as). Why does this sentence use joten instead?
Joten means 'so' or 'therefore', expressing a consequence. Kuten means 'like' or 'as', expressing similarity or introducing an example. They look very similar, which often trips learners up, but since the danger of the jellyfish is the cause of the command here, we must use joten.
Why is the pronoun se (it) in the illative form siihen?
The verb koskea (to touch) always requires its target to be in the illative case (the 'into' case). In Finnish grammar, you don't just touch an object; you touch 'into' it.
Why is the verb form koske here instead of the standard 'you' form kosket?
This is a negative command. The negative imperative for the singular 'you' is formed with the imperative negative verb älä followed by the connegative form of the main verb. You find this by taking the present tense 'minä' form (kosken) and dropping the 'n', leaving koske.
Could I use niin instead of joten to say 'so' in this sentence?
Yes, in everyday spoken Finnish, you will very often hear niin used to mean 'so' in situations like this. However, joten is the standard, grammatically precise conjunction for 'therefore' or 'so' when directly linking a cause to an effect.
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