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Myöhäinen jälkiviisaus ei auta.

Myöhäinen jälkiviisaus ei auta.
Late hindsight does not help.
From Lesson 424:Wishes and regrets (kunpa)·Finnish

Questions & Answers about Myöhäinen jälkiviisaus ei auta.

What is the literal translation of jälkiviisaus?
It is a compound of jälki (track, mark, or in this context, 'after') and viisaus (wisdom). Literally meaning 'after-wisdom', it is the perfect Finnish equivalent for 'hindsight'. It describes the exact feeling you have when making the kunpa (if only) wishes covered in this lesson!
How would I add an object to say 'Late hindsight doesn't help me'?
You would say Myöhäinen jälkiviisaus ei auta minua. The verb auttaa (to help) is a partitive verb, meaning the person or thing being helped must always be in the partitive case, whether the sentence is positive or negative.
How do you form abstract nouns like viisaus?
The noun viisaus (wisdom) is formed from the adjective viisas (wise) by adding the suffix -us or -ys. This is a very common way to create abstract nouns in Finnish, similar to '-ness' or '-dom' in English. Another example is pimeä (dark) becoming pimeys (darkness).
How could I express the actual regret implied here using kunpa?
To express the hindsight regret 'If only I had been wise!', you would combine kunpa with the pluperfect conditional: Kunpa olisin ollut viisas!. The sentence we see here is simply the reality check that follows such a hypothetical wish.

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