Questions & Answers about Vastaan: "Kyllä, asia on minulle selvä nyt."
What does Vastaan mean here, and what tense is it in?
Vastaan is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb vastata.
- vastata = to answer, to reply; to be responsible; to correspond; to oppose (depending on context)
- vastaan = I answer / I am answering / I will answer
Finnish present tense is used for:
- English present simple (I answer),
- present continuous (I am answering),
- and often near future (I’ll answer / I reply).
Here, with the colon introducing direct speech, Vastaan: means I answer / I reply:.
Why is there a colon after Vastaan?
The colon in Finnish is commonly used to introduce direct speech, just like in English.
So the structure is:
- Vastaan: = I answer:
- Kyllä, asia on minulle selvä nyt. = the direct quote of what you say.
This is similar to English I reply: Yes, the matter is clear to me now.
Why is Kyllä used, and how is it different from joo or niin?
Kyllä is a neutral, somewhat more formal or emphatic way to say yes.
Rough differences: