Breakdown of Etsimme osaajaa, joka on etevä ongelmanratkaisussa.
olla
to be
etsiä
to look for
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
osaaja
expert (skilled professional, practitioner)
Questions & Answers about Etsimme osaajaa, joka on etevä ongelmanratkaisussa.
Why is ongelmanratkaisussa in the inessive case (-ssa)?
This is the core of adjective rections of skill! Adjectives that express competence, such as etevä (capable or clever), require the word that follows to be in the inessive case (-ssa or -ssä). While in English you say you are capable at or of something, in Finnish you are capable in it.
Could I use the 4th infinitive (-misessa) here instead of a regular noun?
Yes! Ongelmanratkaisu is a noun meaning problem-solving. If you wanted to use the verb ratkaista (to solve), you would use the 4th infinitive inessive: ongelmien ratkaisemisessa (in the solving of problems). Both sound very natural to a Finnish ear, but using the noun compound is slightly more concise.
Why is the object osaajaa in the partitive case?
The verb etsiä (to search or look for) always requires its object to be in the partitive case. This is because searching is treated as an ongoing, continuous process—you haven't found the person yet, so the action is incomplete.
How does the word osaajaa relate to the verb osata?