Learn Hardcore Finnish: Älä suutu, vaikka bussi on myöhässä. - Don’t get angry, even though the bus is late.

Älä is the 2nd-person singular form of the Finnish negative verb used for prohibitions (“don’t”). It’s followed by the verb in its imperative/connegative form. So:

Älä + suutu = Don’t get angry. For plural you’d use Älkää (see below).

Why is the verb form suutu and not suuttuu or something else?

Suuttua is the infinitive “to get angry.” The 2nd-person singular imperative stem is suutu (no personal ending). So:

Affirmative command: Suutu! = “Get angry!” (rare except jokingly)
Negative command: Älä suutu! = “Don’t get angry!” Forms like suuttuu are present tense (hän suuttuu = “he/she gets angry”), not imperatives.

How do I say this to more than one person?

Use the plural negative imperative:

Älkää suuttuko, vaikka bussi on myöhässä. Here, suuttuko is the negative imperative form matching plural “älkää.”

Could I put the vaikka-clause first?

Yes. Both orders are natural:

Älä suutu, vaikka bussi on myöhässä.
Vaikka bussi on myöhässä, älä suutu. Finnish always uses a comma between the main clause and the subordinate vaikka-clause, regardless of order.

Does vaikka mean “even though” or “even if” here?

With the indicative (on), vaikka typically means “even though” (a conceded fact).

… vaikka bussi on myöhässä = “… even though the bus is late.” If you use the conditional, it means “even if” (a hypothetical):
… vaikka bussi olisi myöhässä = “… even if the bus were late.”

Can I use olisi instead of on, and what changes?

Yes:

Älä suutu, vaikka bussi olisi myöhässä = “Don’t get angry even if the bus were late.” This frames it as a hypothetical scenario. Using on treats it as a (known) fact.

Why is bussi in the nominative and not in some other case?

Bussi is the subject of a copular sentence (X on Y). Subjects are nominative in such sentences:

Bussi on myöhässä = “The bus is late.” You’d use partitive subjects in existential/quantity sentences (e.g., Bussia ei näy = “The bus isn’t in sight”), but not here.

What is myöhässä, and why does it end with -ssä?

Myöhässä is the inessive case (the “in”-case) of myöhä-, used idiomatically with olla: olla myöhässä = “to be late.” It’s a fixed, very common expression for tardiness:

Olen myöhässä = “I’m late.” The -ssä ending (not -ssa) follows vowel harmony, because the word has front vowels (ä, ö, y).

What’s the difference between myöhässä and myöhäinen?

olla myöhässä = “to be late” (for an appointment, schedule, etc.): Bussi on myöhässä.
myöhäinen = “late” as an adjective about time of day or lateness in a more descriptive sense: myöhäinen ilta = “late evening.” You don’t say “bussi on myöhäinen” to mean “the bus is late.”

Could I use mutta (“but”) instead of vaikka?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

Bussi on myöhässä, mutta älä suutu. = “The bus is late, but don’t get angry.” This is a coordination (“but”). Vaikka creates a concessive subordinate clause (“even though”), which feels a bit tighter and more idiomatic for this kind of advice. Both are fine.

Is Älä suutu too blunt? How can I soften it?

You can soften with particles or phrasing:

Älä nyt suutu… = “Please don’t get upset now…”
Yritä olla suuttumatta, vaikka bussi on myöhässä. = “Try not to get angry, even though…”
Ole kiltti, älä suutu… = “Be kind/please, don’t get angry…”

Can I replace bussi with a pronoun?

Yes, if the referent is clear from context:

Älä suutu, vaikka se on myöhässä. = “Don’t get angry, even though it is late.” Using the noun (bussi) is also perfectly natural and often clearer.

Is vaikkakin possible here?

Vaikkakin is a more formal or emphatic variant meaning “even though/although.” It’s grammatical but less common in everyday speech:

(Vaikkakin) bussi on myöhässä, älä suutu. Most of the time, plain vaikka is preferred.

How would I change the tense if I’m talking about the past?

Put the vaikka-clause in the past:

Älä suutu, vaikka bussi oli myöhässä. = “Don’t get angry, even though the bus was late.” For hypothetical past, use the conditional perfect or past conditional as needed.

If I want to say what someone is angry about or at whom, how does suuttua work with cases?

suuttua jostakin = get angry about something: Älä suutu siitä. = “Don’t get angry about that.”
suuttua jollekin = get angry at someone: Älä suutu minulle. = “Don’t be angry with me.” In this sentence, there’s no complement; it’s just the state of getting angry.