Questions & Answers about Jälkiviisaus on aina helppoa.
Why is the adjective helppoa in the partitive case rather than the nominative helppo?
In Finnish, when the subject of a sentence with the verb olla (to be) is an abstract, uncountable concept—like jälkiviisaus (hindsight)—the describing adjective must be in the partitive case. If the subject were a concrete, countable noun like a test (koe on helppo), you would use the nominative.
What is the literal translation of jälkiviisaus?
It is a compound word literally meaning "after-wisdom." It combines jälki (track, print, or in compounds: after/post-) and viisaus (wisdom). You will recognize jälki from other common compound words like jälkiruoka (dessert, "after-food").
This lesson focuses on kunpa and hypothetical regrets, but this sentence has neither. Why is it here?
While grammatically just a standard statement, this is a very common proverb used immediately after expressing a hypothetical regret. A native speaker would naturally pair it with this lesson's grammar, saying something like: Kunpa olisin tiennyt! Jälkiviisaus on aina helppoa. (If only I had known! Hindsight is always easy.)
How would I apply this lesson's conditional mood to make this sentence mean "Hindsight WOULD be always easy"?
You would simply change the indicative verb on (is) to its conditional form, olisi (would be). The sentence becomes Jälkiviisaus olisi aina helppoa.
Learn Jälkiviisaus on aina helppoa and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free