Learn Hardcore Finnish: Opettaja sanoo, että on ihan normaalia olla epävarma ennen koetta. - The teacher says that it is completely normal to be unsure before an exam.

Että is a conjunction meaning roughly that in English. It introduces a subordinate clause that reports what someone says, thinks, believes, etc.

Opettaja sanoo, että …
→ The teacher says that …

In Finnish, you normally put a comma before an että-clause, even in places where English would not use a comma. So:

Opettaja sanoo, että on ihan normaalia…
is the standard, correct punctuation.

In English we say “the teacher says that *it is normal”. Where is *“it” in Finnish? Why is it just että on ihan normaalia?

Finnish often leaves out a dummy subject like English it.

English: It is normal to be unsure.
Finnish: On normaalia olla epävarma.

There is no word for it here; the sentence just starts with on (is). This is common with expressions about what something is like in general:

On tärkeää syödä hyvin. – It is important to eat well.
On vaikeaa oppia kieliä. – It is hard to learn languages.

You can add se (it):
…että se on ihan normaalia olla epävarma… – this is also correct, but slightly more specific/emphatic. The neutral, general statement usually just leaves se out.

Why is it normaalia and not normaali?

Normaalia is the partitive singular of the adjective normaali.

The structure here is:

on + (adjective in partitive) + infinitive (verb in basic form)
→ general statements like “it is X to do Y”.

Examples:

On vaikeaa puhua suomea. – It is hard to speak Finnish.
On hauskaa matkustaa. – It is fun to travel.
On ihan normaalia olla epävarma. – It is completely normal to be unsure.

In this pattern, the adjective (vaikea, hauska, normaali…) is usually in the partitive: vaikeaa, hauskaa, normaalia.

So normaalia shows that we are talking about the general quality of the situation (“being unsure is (something) normal”), not one specific, bounded instance.

Why is olla in the basic form (infinitive)? Could this be oleminen or something else?

Olla is the 1st infinitive, the normal dictionary form of the verb to be.

In this structure, on normaalia + verb means “it is normal to [verb]”, and that second verb is in the infinitive:

on normaalia olla epävarma – it is normal to be unsure
on tärkeää nukkua hyvin – it is important to sleep well
on hauskaa oppia uutta – it is fun to learn new things

You would not say oleminen here. Oleminen (“being”) is a noun (a kind of gerund) and would sound unnatural in this everyday sentence.

Why is epävarma (basic form) and not epävarmaa?

Good to notice the difference:

normaalia – partitive
epävarma – basic (nominative) form

They play different roles:

normaalia belongs to the pattern on normaalia [tehdä jotain]
– it describes the kind of situation (“it is normal”).
epävarma is the adjective used with olla to describe a person’s state:
- Olen epävarma. – I am unsure.
- Hän on epävarma. – He/She is unsure.
- olla epävarma – to be unsure.

So in olla epävarma, the adjective stays in its normal form just like in hän on epävarma. The partitive is needed only for normaalia because of the impersonal pattern on normaalia + infinitive.

What does ihan mean here in ihan normaalia? Is it like “very” or “quite”?

Ihan is an adverb that often works as a soft intensifier. Here it means roughly:

quite / completely / totally normal

So:

ihan normaalia ≈ completely normal, perfectly normal, quite normal.

Other examples:

Se on ihan hyvä. – It’s quite good / pretty good.
Olen ihan väsynyt. – I’m really tired / totally tired.

Depending on context, ihan can be weaker (“pretty”) or stronger (“totally”), but in this sentence it is reassuring: “This is completely normal.”

Why is it ennen koetta and not ennen koe or ennen koeen?

Ennen (“before”) is a preposition that requires the partitive case.

The noun koe (exam) has this partitive form: koetta.

So:

ennen koetta – before the exam (literally “before exam-PARTITIVE”)

You cannot say:

✗ ennen koe – wrong case
✗ ennen koeen – genitive; ennen doesn’t take genitive

Other examples with ennen:

ennen lomaa – before the holiday
ennen tenttiä – before the test
ennen kesää – before the summer

All of those nouns are in partitive after ennen.

Could the word order be että ennen koetta on ihan normaalia olla epävarma? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, that word order is possible:

Opettaja sanoo, että ennen koetta on ihan normaalia olla epävarma.

The meaning stays essentially the same, but the focus shifts a bit.

että on ihan normaalia olla epävarma ennen koetta
→ The main statement is “it’s normal to be unsure”, and “before the exam” is just extra time information.
että ennen koetta on ihan normaalia olla epävarma
→ The time phrase ennen koetta is emphasized: “it is before the exam that it is normal to be unsure.”

Both are correct; the original is more neutral and natural in many contexts.

Why is it sanoo and not sanoi? How does tense work here?

sanoo = present tense of sanoa (he/she says)
sanoi = past tense (he/she said)

Using sanoo here can mean:

He/She (the teacher) says this in general, as a repeated statement or general rule.
Or you are reporting something the teacher says right now.

If you were telling a story about a past situation, you might say:

Opettaja sanoi, että on ihan normaalia olla epävarma ennen koetta.
– The teacher said that it is completely normal to be unsure before an exam.

Notice that the että-clause often stays in the present (on, not oli) when the statement is still true in general.

Could you omit että, or is it required after sanoo?

In this kind of sentence, että is required.

Opettaja sanoo, että on ihan normaalia olla epävarma… – correct.
✗ Opettaja sanoo, on ihan normaalia olla epävarma… – incorrect.

Että clearly marks the beginning of the reported speech / content clause, similar to that in English. You can sometimes drop that in English (“The teacher says it’s normal…”), but in standard Finnish you cannot drop että here.