Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota.

Because Finnish forms compounds very freely, much more than English does.

Pysäköintivirhemaksu is made up of:

• pysäköinti = parking
• virhe = mistake, error, violation
• maksu = fee, charge, payment

So the whole compound means something like:

• parking violation fee
• parking fine

A very literal breakdown would be parking-error-fee, but in natural English that becomes parking fine or parking penalty charge.

In Finnish, the last part of the compound usually tells you the basic category of the word. Here the last part is maksu, so the whole word is a kind of fee/charge.

Literally, yes: virhe often means mistake or error.

But in compounds and official language, it can also refer to a violation or something done incorrectly. So in pysäköintivirhe, it is not just an innocent mistake in the everyday sense — it refers to incorrect parking, that is, a parking violation.

So:

• pysäköintivirhe = parking violation / improper parking
• pysäköintivirhemaksu = fee for that violation

Voidaan is the Finnish passive/impersonal form of voida, which means can, to be able to, or sometimes may.

So voidaan means something like:

• can be
• it is possible to
• one can

In this sentence, voidaan kumota means can be revoked/cancelled.

This is a very common structure in Finnish when the doer is not named.

Because the sentence does not say who does the revoking.

Compare:

• Poliisi voi kumota maksun. = The police can revoke the fee.
• Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota. = The parking fine can be revoked.

The second version is impersonal/passive: the action is possible, but the sentence does not focus on the person or authority doing it.

This is extremely common in Finnish, especially in official and written language.

Kumota is the first infinitive, the basic dictionary form of the verb.

Its meaning here is:

• to revoke
• to cancel
• to overturn
• sometimes to annul

After voida, Finnish normally uses the basic infinitive:

• voin tulla = I can come
• voit nähdä = you can see
• voidaan kumota = can be revoked

So voidaan kumota is structurally similar to can revoke / can be revoked.

In administrative or legal contexts, kumota often means:

• revoke
• annul
• cancel
• overturn

For a pysäköintivirhemaksu, the most natural translations are usually:

• The parking fine can be cancelled.
• The parking fine can be revoked.

In other contexts, kumota can also be used for laws, decisions, claims, and arguments.

For example:

• laki kumotaan = a law is repealed
• päätös kumotaan = a decision is overturned

It appears in the nominative singular form: pysäköintivirhemaksu.

This often confuses learners, because in English the sentence looks like The parking fine can be revoked, where the parking fine feels like the subject.

In Finnish, passive sentences work a bit differently. There is no normal personal subject here. The thing affected by the action often appears as the object, and with a total object in the passive, Finnish commonly uses the nominative form.

So even though English translates it as the subject of a passive sentence, in Finnish grammar it is better to think of it as the thing being acted on, appearing in nominative because of the passive construction.

That is why you get:

• Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota.

rather than a form like pysäköintivirhemaksun.

Because -n would be the form you often expect for a total object in an active sentence, but not here.

Compare:

• Viranomainen voi kumota pysäköintivirhemaksun.
  = The authority can revoke the parking fine.

Here pysäköintivirhemaksun is the total object in an active clause.

But in the passive/impersonal version:

• Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota.

the total object appears in the nominative, not the -n form.

This is a standard Finnish pattern.

Yes — but Finnish passive is not exactly the same as English passive.

English passive:

• The parking fine can be revoked.

Finnish passive/impersonal:

• Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota.

Finnish passive often feels halfway between:

• the parking fine can be revoked and
• one can revoke the parking fine

So it is called passive, but it also has a strong impersonal flavor.

Yes, in a structural sense.

That is one useful way to understand Finnish passive forms. Voidaan kumota literally has an impersonal meaning like:

• one can revoke
• it is possible to revoke

But because pysäköintivirhemaksu is the thing affected, natural English usually prefers:

• The parking fine can be revoked.

So both ideas are connected, but the best translation depends on what sounds natural in English.

Yes, Finnish word order is fairly flexible, but the basic version here is the most neutral:

• Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota.

This puts the topic first: the parking fine.

You could also see other orders in context, but they would change the emphasis. For example:

• Voidaan kumota pysäköintivirhemaksu.

This sounds marked and less neutral on its own. It might be used only in a special context.

So for a learner, the given order is the normal one to focus on.

Usually can.

The sentence is saying that revocation is possible. Depending on context, English might also use may if the meaning is about permission or official possibility, but the most straightforward translation is:

• The parking fine can be revoked.

If the context is legal or bureaucratic, English sometimes uses may be revoked, but that depends on style, not on a separate Finnish form here.

You would need to name the person or authority that revokes the fine.

For example:

• Viranomainen voi kumota pysäköintivirhemaksun.
  = The authority can revoke the parking fine.

Here:

• viranomainen = authority / official body
• voi = can
• kumota = revoke
• pysäköintivirhemaksun = the parking fine (object form)

This helps show why the passive version is useful: it avoids naming the agent.

A helpful rough guide is:

py-sä-köin-ti-vir-he-mak-su

A few things to notice:

• y, ä, and ö are front vowels that do not exist in the same way in English.
• oi in köin is a diphthong.
• Each written sound is pronounced clearly.
• Stress in Finnish usually falls on the first syllable:
  PYsäköintivirhemaksu

Also, long compounds are not unusual in Finnish, so learners should get used to reading them in parts rather than trying to memorize them as one indivisible block.

Yes, very much so.

This sentence sounds formal, administrative, and written. Finnish official language often uses:

• long compounds
• passive/impersonal forms
• concise wording

So Pysäköintivirhemaksu voidaan kumota. sounds like something you might read in:

• parking regulations
• an appeal process description
• a government or municipal website
• legal instructions

In everyday speech, people might choose simpler wording depending on context.