Minulla on yksi tärkeä asia, josta haluan puhua.

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Breakdown of Minulla on yksi tärkeä asia, josta haluan puhua.

• haluta: to want
• tärkeä: important
• yksi: one
• asia: the thing
• puhua: to talk

Questions & Answers about Minulla on yksi tärkeä asia, josta haluan puhua.

What does the phrase Minulla on mean, and why is it structured this way?

Minulla is the adessive form of minä (“I”), which literally means “at me.” Instead of a direct equivalent of “have,” Finnish expresses possession by stating that something exists “at” someone. When combined with on (the third person singular of olla, “to be”), it means “I have.”

What is the function of josta in the sentence?

Josta is a relative pronoun derived from joka (“which” or “that”), inflected in the adessive case. It links the noun asia (“thing”) with the following clause haluan puhua (“I want to talk”), literally forming “thing about which I want to talk.” This construction effectively embeds additional information about the “important thing.”

Why is the verb puhua in its infinitive form after haluan?

In Finnish, verbs that follow a modal verb like haluan (“I want”) are typically left in the infinitive form. This structure indicates that the action (talking) is desired by the subject without needing another conjugation, similar to the English “I want to talk” rather than “I want talk.”

How do the adjective tärkeä and the noun asia agree in this sentence?

In Finnish, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in case, number, and often definiteness. Here, asia appears in the nominative singular as the main item in the possession structure. Consequently, tärkeä remains in its nominative singular form to match asia, ensuring proper agreement.

Why is there a comma before josta haluan puhua?

The comma marks the beginning of a relative clause that provides extra information about the “important thing.” In Finnish punctuation, commas are often used to separate subordinate clauses (like relative clauses) from the main clause, much like how a non-restrictive clause might be set off in English.