Setä ehdotti, että menemme taksilla lentokentälle.

to go

Breakdown of Setä ehdotti, että menemme taksilla lentokentälle.

• -lla: by
• -lle: to
• että: that

Questions & Answers about Setä ehdotti, että menemme taksilla lentokentälle.

Is it better to say että menemme or että menisimme after ehdottaa?

Both occur, but they’re not equally neutral.

• Standard/neutral written Finnish prefers the conditional for suggestions: Setä ehdotti, että menisimme… = “Uncle suggested that we (should) go…”
• Setä ehdotti, että menemme… is common in speech. It can sound like reporting a plan that’s being put forward as if it were already decided (“he proposed that we are going by taxi”), or just be casual/colloquial phrasing of a suggestion.
• Very common in speech is the impersonal conditional: Setä ehdotti, että mentäisiin taksilla… = “Uncle suggested that we go (let’s go) by taxi.”

If you want the safest, textbook-like version of a suggestion, use the conditional: että menisimme (or the impersonal conditional että mentäisiin).

Why is there a comma before että?

Että introduces a subordinate content clause (a “that”-clause), and Finnish puts a comma before such clauses in standard writing. So you write: … ehdotti, että …

What exactly does setä mean? How is it different from eno?

• Setä = paternal uncle (your father’s brother).
• Eno = maternal uncle (your mother’s brother).
• Täti = aunt (on either side). Also, setä is sometimes used as a polite form of address for an older man, especially when speaking to children.