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Questions & Answers about Tarvitsen puhtaat vaatteet työhön.
Why is there no subject pronoun minä in the sentence?
In Finnish the verb ending itself indicates the subject. Tarvitsen already means “I need,” so you normally drop minä. You could say Minä tarvitsen puhtaat vaatteet työhön for emphasis, but it’s not required.
Why is the object puhtaat vaatteet in the nominative plural and not in the partitive?
Finnish distinguishes between complete and partial objects. When you need a specific, complete set of clothes, you use the nominative (or accusative) plural: puhtaat vaatteet. If you just mean “some clean clothes” in an indefinite amount, you’d use the partitive plural: puhtaita vaatteita.
How do adjectives agree with nouns in Finnish?
Adjectives in Finnish take the same case, number, and (if needed) gradation as the noun they modify. Here puhtaat is in the nominative (or accusative) plural to match vaatteet in the nominative (accusative) plural.
How did we get tarvitsen from the infinitive tarvita?
Tarvita is a type I verb. Its stem is tarvit- (not tarvi-) when forming the present tense to avoid a vowel cluster. You add the 1 st person singular ending -sen, giving tarvit-sen → tarvitsen.
Why is työhön in the illative case, and what does it mean here?
The illative case (marked here by -hön) expresses direction or purpose “into/to.” Työhön literally means “into the work” but in context it means “for work” or “to (my) job.”
How do you form the illative of työ and why is there an “h”?
Most Finnish words form the illative by doubling the final vowel + n (e.g. talo → taloon). Monosyllables ending in a heavy diphthong (like työ) instead insert h and an extra vowel: työ → työhön.
Could you also say töihin instead of työhön?
Yes. Töihin is the illative plural of työ and is very common for “to work” in general (e.g. Menen töihin = “I’m going to work”). Työhön (singular) often implies a specific job or the concept “into one’s job.”
What does vaatteet mean and where does it come from?
Vaatteet is the nominative (and accusative) plural of vaate, meaning “garment” or “piece of clothing.” In the plural, it becomes vaatteet and means “clothes.”
Can you change the word order, for example put työhön first?
Yes. Finnish has flexible word order for emphasis.
• Default: Tarvitsen puhtaat vaatteet työhön.
• Emphasize purpose: Työhön tarvitsen puhtaat vaatteet.
Both are grammatically correct; the nuance shifts with what you stress.