Breakdown of Tuomarilla on tapana rykiä ennen kuin hän puhuu.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
puhua
to speak
tapa
habit
tuomari
judge
ennen kuin
before (conjunction)
rykiä
to clear one's throat
Questions & Answers about Tuomarilla on tapana rykiä ennen kuin hän puhuu.
Why is the word tapa (habit) in the essive case (tapana) in this sentence?
The phrase on tapana literally translates to "is as a custom". In Finnish, the essive case (ending in -na or -nä) describes a state, role, or condition. So, the construction tuomarilla on tapana expresses that the judge has this action "as a habit".
Why is the subject tuomarilla in the adessive case (ending in -lla) rather than the nominative tuomari?
This sentence builds on the basic Finnish "to have" structure. Since Finnish doesn't have a direct verb for "have", it uses the adessive case (meaning "on/at someone") plus the 3rd-person singular verb on. The structure [someone]-lla on tapana is the fixed, standard way to say someone has a habit of doing something.
Could I just say ennen hän puhuu instead of ennen kuin hän puhuu?
No, you cannot drop kuin here. When ennen (before) introduces a full subclause with a conjugated verb like hän puhuu, it must be paired with kuin. You only drop kuin if you use ennen followed directly by a noun in the partitive case, such as ennen puhetta (before the speech).
I know the verb yskiä means "to cough". What is the difference between yskiä and rykiä?
While yskiä means "to cough" (like when you have a cold), rykiä specifically means "to clear one's throat" or give a small, deliberate cough. It is exactly the word you need for a judge making an "ahem!" sound before delivering a verdict.
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