Questions & Answers about Voisitko selittää uudestaan?
voisitko corresponds to English could you.
It is built from several parts:
- voi- – stem of the verb voida (to be able, can)
- -si- – conditional marker (makes can into could)
- -t – 2nd person singular ending (you)
- -ko – question particle that turns it into a yes–no question
So:
- voit = you can
- voisit = you could
- voisitko = could you?
Finnish uses the conditional -isi- (here: voisitko) to make requests more polite or softer, similar to English could you or would you.
- Voitko selittää uudestaan? = Can you explain again? (more direct)
- Voisitko selittää uudestaan? = Could you explain again? (more polite, less demanding)
So the conditional is not about a different time but about politeness and softness of the request.
selittää is the basic dictionary form of the verb (the 1st infinitive). It corresponds to English to explain, but Finnish does not need a separate word to.
With verbs like voida (to be able, can/could), the next verb stays in this basic infinitive form:
- voin selittää = I can explain
- voisit selittää = you could explain
- voisitko selittää = could you explain?
So voisitko (could you) + selittää (explain) is the normal structure.
Finnish usually leaves out personal pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending. The -t at the end of voisit already means you (singular).
- voisin = I could
- voisit = you could
- voisi = he/she/it could
So voisitko already contains you.
You can say Sinä voisitko selittää uudestaan?, but that sounds unusual; normally you would only add sinä (you) for contrast or emphasis, for example:
- Sinä voisit selittää uudestaan. = You could explain again. (as opposed to someone else)
uudestaan means again / once more / anew.
Comparisons:
- uudestaan – very common, natural in this sentence. Neutral again, like explain again.
- uudelleen – near-synonym of uudestaan, a bit more formal or written style.
- taas – also again, but often has a nuance of once again / yet again / back again and can sound a bit more colloquial or suggest repetition.
In your sentence, Voisitko selittää uudestaan? is the most neutral and typical choice.
You could also say:
- Voisitko selittää vielä kerran? = Could you explain one more time?
The neutral, most natural order here is:
- Voisitko selittää uudestaan?
You can say Voisitko uudestaan selittää?, but it sounds slightly marked or stylized, as if you are emphasizing uudestaan (again).
Basic guideline:
- Verb of ability + main verb + adverb is the default:
- Voisitko selittää hitaammin? (more slowly)
- Voisitko selittää uudestaan? (again)
Different word orders are possible but may change the emphasis or sound unusual in everyday speech.
Voisitko selittää uudestaan? is polite in the singular you form. It is fine with:
- friends
- classmates
- colleagues you tutoi (use sinä with)
- customer-service people in modern relaxed contexts
More formal/polite options for addressing strangers respectfully are:
- Voisitteko selittää uudestaan?
(plural you, used as polite form) - Voisitteko selittää tämän uudestaan?
(adding tämän = this)
So, your sentence is polite but uses the informal singular you.
You can add sen (it / that) as the object:
- Voisitko selittää sen uudestaan? = Could you explain it again?
Typical placement is before uudestaan:
- Voisitko selittää sen uudestaan? ✔️ (most natural)
Not so natural: - Voisitko selittää uudestaan sen? ✖️ (usually avoided)
If the thing to be explained is very clear from context, you can also omit sen, like in the original sentence.
-ko / -kö is a question particle (a clitic) used mainly for yes–no questions.
- It attaches to the first word that is being questioned:
- Ymmärrätkö? = Do you understand?
- Tuleeko hän huomenna? = Is he/she coming tomorrow?
In your sentence, it attaches to the verb voisit:
- voisit (you could) → voisitko? (could you?)
About the form:
- -ko is used after back vowels (a, o, u)
- -kö is used after front vowels (ä, ö, y)
The last non-neutral vowel in voisit is o (a back vowel), so it becomes voisitko.
Rough guide (all syllables stressed on the first syllable of the whole word):
selittää → se-lit-tää
- se – like se in set
- lit – short li, double t means a clearly longer t sound
- tää – long ää (like a long, open a in dad, held longer)
uudestaan → uu-des-taan
- uu – long u, like oo in food, held longer
- des – as in English desk without the k
- taan – long aa again, plus n
Important points:
- Double vowels (uu, ää, aa) are held longer than single vowels.
- Double consonants (tt) are also longer; the tongue stays in the consonant position longer.
Yes, some common variations are:
Voisitko selittää vielä kerran?
= Could you explain one more time?Voisitko selittää tämän uudestaan?
= Could you explain this again?Voisitko selittää vähän tarkemmin?
= Could you explain a bit more precisely? (not necessarily repetition, but elaboration)More casual:
- Voitko selittää uudestaan? (using voitko, less soft than voisitko)
Your original sentence Voisitko selittää uudestaan? is very natural and widely usable.
Finnish does not have a special future tense. The conditional here mainly expresses a polite request, not a different time.
Voisitko selittää uudestaan? means:
- Could you (now / in a moment) explain again?
The time is understood from the situation (context). The conditional voisit- softens the request, similar to English could you rather than marking a specific tense.