Breakdown of Teemme tilintarkastuksen tammikuussa, jotta vältämme raskaat seuraamukset.
tehdä
to do
tammikuu
January
välttää
to avoid
jotta
so that / in order to
raskas
heavy (also burdensome, e.g. work)
tilintarkastus
the audit
seuraamus
the consequence
Questions & Answers about Teemme tilintarkastuksen tammikuussa, jotta vältämme raskaat seuraamukset.
This lesson teaches the tulee + infinitive construction. How would we rewrite the first half of the sentence to say 'We must do the audit in January' using this structure?
It would be: Meidän tulee tehdä tilintarkastus tammikuussa. The subject becomes genitive (meidän). Crucially, remember the special object rule: because tulee tehdä is a formal necessity structure, its singular total object must be in the basic nominative form (tilintarkastus) rather than the genitive-accusative (tilintarkastuksen) seen in the original sentence.
Why does the singular object tilintarkastuksen end in -n, while the plural object raskaat seuraamukset ends in -t instead of a plural genitive ending?
Both are total objects showing that the actions are viewed as completed wholes. Standard verbs like teemme and vältämme take a genitive-looking accusative (ending in -n) for singular total objects. However, plural total objects always look exactly like the nominative plural (ending in -t). There is no 'plural accusative' case ending in Finnish.
Let's break down the compound word tilintarkastus (audit). Why is the first part in the genitive case?
It is made of tilin (of the account) + tarkastus (inspection). Using the genitive in the first part of a compound word is very common when it represents the target or object of the second part's action. An audit is literally an 'inspection of the account'.
Could we use että instead of jotta here, since both can translate to 'that' in English?
No, you should use jotta. While both can translate to 'that', jotta specifically expresses purpose or intention ('in order to' or 'so that'). Että is used to introduce statements or thoughts, like 'I know that...' (Tiedän, että...).
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