Tämä tehtävä on kiireellinen, koska pomo tarvitsee sen pian.

This task is urgent because the boss needs it soon.

Breakdown of Tämä tehtävä on kiireellinen, koska pomo tarvitsee sen pian.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• tarvita: to need
• koska: because
• pian: soon
• se: it
• pomo: the boss
• tehtävä: the task
• kiireellinen: urgent

Questions & Answers about Tämä tehtävä on kiireellinen, koska pomo tarvitsee sen pian.

What is the role of Tämä in the sentence?

Tämä is a demonstrative pronoun meaning "this." It introduces the subject by specifying which task is being referred to.

What does tehtävä mean, and what is its grammatical role?

Tehtävä is a noun that means "task" or "assignment." It is the subject of the main clause, which is described by the predicate "on kiireellinen."

How is the adjective kiireellinen used in this sentence?

Kiireellinen means "urgent." In this sentence, it is used predicatively after the verb on (is) to describe the state of the task. When adjectives serve as predicates in Finnish, they follow the verb rather than preceding the noun.

What role does koska play in the sentence?

Koska is a subordinating conjunction meaning "because." It introduces the subordinate clause "pomo tarvitsee sen pian," which provides the reason why the task is urgent.

How does the subordinate clause "pomo tarvitsee sen pian" function within the sentence?

The clause "pomo tarvitsee sen pian" explains the cause of the urgency. In this clause, pomo (boss) is the subject, tarvitsee means "needs," sen is the object pronoun referring back to tehtävä, and pian means "soon," indicating that the boss requires the task in the near future.

Why is the object pronoun sen used in the subordinate clause instead of repeating tehtävä?

Finnish often employs pronouns to avoid repetition. Sen refers back to tehtävä, which keeps the sentence concise and helps maintain clarity without restating the noun.

Why is the present tense tarvitsee used even though the meaning implies a future need?

In Finnish, the present tense can also indicate a near-future action—especially when paired with a time expression like pian (soon). Although English might use a future form (e.g., "will need"), Finnish frequently relies on the present tense to convey that the action is imminent.

Why is there a comma before koska in the sentence?

A comma is used here to separate the main clause from the subordinate (causal) clause. This punctuation clarifies the sentence structure by signaling that what follows (the reason) is connected to and explains the urgency stated in the main clause.