Breakdown of Olen iloinen, koska löysin ratkaisun ongelmaan.
Questions & Answers about Olen iloinen, koska löysin ratkaisun ongelmaan.
Olen is the 1st person singular present tense of olla (to be). Finnish verbs change form for person and number. For olla in the present tense:
- olen (I am)
- olet (you are)
- on (he/she/it is)
- olemme (we are)
- olette (you pl. are)
- ovat (they are)
You omit the pronoun minä (I) because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.
In Finnish, you normally separate a main clause from a subordinate clause with a comma. Here koska (because) introduces a subordinate clause that explains the reason. So:
Olen iloinen, koska löysin…
The comma signals that what follows is the explanation.
Koska means “because” and introduces a reason clause. Other related words:
- siksi että – also “because,” often a bit more formal or emphatic
- kun – can mean “when” or sometimes “because” in spoken Finnish
Use koska for a clear causal link: “I am happy because I found a solution.”
Löysin is the past (preterite) tense, 1st person singular of löytää (to find). Löytää is a Type 4 verb:
- Infinitive: löytää
- Past stem: löysi-
- Ending for “I”: -n
So löysin = “I found.”
In the simple past (preterite) of a transitive verb, a definite object takes the accusative form, which in the singular looks like the genitive.
- Nominative (indefinite): ratkaisu (“a solution”)
- Accusative/Genitive (definite): ratkaisun (“the solution”)
Because you’re talking about a specific solution you found, you use ratkaisun.
Ongelmaan is the illative singular of ongelma (problem), meaning “into/to the problem.” Finnish uses the illative to express “to” in the sense of movement or direction. For most words ending in an -a or -ä, you add -an or -än:
- ongelma + an → ongelmaan
This construction literally means “a solution into the problem,” idiomatically “a solution to the problem.”
Yes. If you put the reason clause first, you still use a comma:
Koska löysin ratkaisun ongelmaan, olen iloinen.
The meaning stays the same, but you’ve emphasized the reason by mentioning it first.