Breakdown of Aineellinen turva on tärkeää, itseilmaisu taas tuo onnellisuutta.
olla
to be
tuoda
to bring
tärkeä
important
onnellisuus
the happiness
taas
whereas / on the other hand (by contrast)
aineellinen
material (adjective: physical, tangible)
turva
the security
itseilmaisu
the self-expression
Questions & Answers about Aineellinen turva on tärkeää, itseilmaisu taas tuo onnellisuutta.
Why is taas placed after itseilmaisu rather than at the beginning of the second clause?
In this context, taas doesn't mean 'again' but acts as a connector of contrast meaning 'whereas' or 'on the other hand'. When used this way, it has an enclitic-like placement: it doesn't start the clause, but instead tucks in immediately after the subject or topic it is contrasting. Here, it highlights the contrast between aineellinen turva and itseilmaisu.
Can I just use mutta (but) instead of the taas structure here?
Yes, you could say , mutta itseilmaisu tuo..., but taas serves a slightly different purpose. While mutta introduces a direct contradiction or exception, this placement of taas creates a balanced comparison between two parallel facts, much like 'whereas' or 'while' in English.
I always mix up when to use the partitive for adjectives. Why is it tärkeää instead of the nominative tärkeä?
The subject here, aineellinen turva (material security), is an abstract, uncountable concept. In Finnish, when you have an 'A is B' sentence and the subject is uncountable, the predicative adjective describing it must be in the partitive case, hence tärkeää.
Why does the verb tuo take the partitive object onnellisuutta?
Onnellisuus (happiness) is an abstract noun. Because bringing happiness is an ongoing, open-ended result rather than a completed action with a concrete, countable object, it requires the partitive case.
How is the word itseilmaisu built?
It is a compound noun made of itse (self) and ilmaisu (expression). The word ilmaisu is derived from the verb ilmaista, which means to express or to state.
Learn Aineellinen turva on tärkeää, itseilmaisu taas tuo onnellisuutta 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