Tarvitsen voimassa olevan passin.

I need a valid passport.

Breakdown of Tarvitsen voimassa olevan passin.

• minä: I
• tarvita: to need
• passi: the passport
• voimassa oleva: valid

Questions & Answers about Tarvitsen voimassa olevan passin.

What is the grammatical function of voimassa oleva in the phrase voimassa olevan passin?

It is a present active participle of olla that works like an adjective to modify passi, meaning “valid.” The adverb voimassa stays fixed, and oleva inflects to olevan to agree with the noun in accusative singular.

Why is passin used instead of passia or passi after tarvitsen?

The verb tarvita can take two cases:
• Partitive (passia) for an indefinite or ongoing need (“I need some passport”).
• Accusative (passin, same form as genitive) for a specific, one-time need (“I need that passport” or “a valid passport”).
Here you want a concrete document, so you use the accusative passin.

How is the participle oleva formed from the verb olla?

Most Finnish verbs form the present active participle by adding -va or -vä to the verb stem. For olla, the stem is ole-, so ole- + va = oleva.

Why does voimassa stay unchanged while oleva becomes olevan?

voimassa functions as a fixed adverbial (“in force”) and adverbs don’t inflect for case. oleva is a participle/adjective and must agree in case with passin, taking -n in the accusative singular to become olevan.

Finnish doesn’t have articles. How do you know if Tarvitsen voimassa olevan passin means “a valid passport” or “the valid passport”?

Finnish relies on context. Without articles, Tarvitsen voimassa olevan passin generally means “I need a valid passport.” If you want “that specific passport,” you can add a demonstrative: Tarvitsen sen voimassa olevan passin. To keep it clearly indefinite you could use partitive: Tarvitsen voimassa olevaa passia.

Can I write voimassaoleva as one word instead of two words voimassa oleva?

Standard Finnish treats this as two words: voimassa + oleva. You might see compound forms like voimassaoleva in technical or informal texts, but the official orthography uses two words.

How would you express “A valid passport is needed” in passive voice?

You can say Tarvitaan voimassa olevaa passia. In this passive construction, the object goes to partitive (passia) and oleva also takes the partitive ending (olevaa) to match.

What are alternative ways to say “I need a valid passport” in Finnish?

Here are a few options:
• Passini on oltava voimassa – “My passport must be valid.”
• Passin tulee olla voimassa – “The passport is to be valid.”
• Minun täytyy hankkia voimassa oleva passi – “I have to obtain a valid passport.”