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)
etevä
capable (skilled, clever)
ongelmanratkaisu
problem-solving
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?
Osaaja is a noun formed by adding the agent suffix -ja to the strong stem of osata (to know how to do). Just like 'build' becomes 'builder' in English, the verb 'to know how' becomes a 'person who knows how' (an expert or skilled professional) in Finnish. The sentence uses its partitive form, osaajaa.
Learn Etsimme osaajaa, joka on etevä ongelmanratkaisussa 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