Breakdown of Mies, jolla on lenkkarit jalassa, ei pääse sisään.
olla
to be
mies
man
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
sisään
in
jalka
leg / foot
päästä
to get to, to reach
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
lenkkari
sneaker
Questions & Answers about Mies, jolla on lenkkarit jalassa, ei pääse sisään.
Why do we say jalassa (in the foot) instead of using päällä (on top)?
In Finnish, extremities like feet, hands, and the head use internal local cases to express wearing something (like jalassa, kädessä, or päässä). The external case päällä is reserved for clothes worn on the torso or the body in general, like a shirt or a coat.
He is wearing two sneakers, so why is it singular jalassa rather than plural jaloissa?
Finnish idiomatically uses the singular form of paired body parts when talking about wearing things. You wear shoes jalassa (in the foot) and gloves kädessä (in the hand), even though there are two of them.
What is the exact nuance of using päästä (ei pääse) here instead of mennä?
The verb päästä implies managing to get somewhere or being granted permission. Ei pääse sisään means he is not allowed in, likely because of a dress code against sneakers. Ei mene sisään would just mean he isn't walking in, without implying anyone is stopping him.
Why is the relative pronoun jolla in the adessive (-lla) case?
This is the standard Finnish 'have' construction applied to a relative clause. Just as 'Minulla on' means 'I have', jolla on means 'who has' (literally 'on whom is').
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