Learn Hardcore Finnish: Päivystys on tärkeä paikka. - The emergency clinic is an important place.

The activity: “on‑call duty”, “emergency duty”.
The place or unit that provides urgent care: often translated as “emergency department”, “ER”, “A&E”, or more broadly “urgent care”.

In everyday hospital context, Päivystys on tärkeä paikka will usually be understood as “The emergency department is an important place.”

Why is Päivystys capitalized? Is it a proper name?

No, päivystys is not a proper name here. It is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

In the middle of a sentence, it would normally be päivystys (lowercase), unless it is part of an official name like Meilahden Päivystys (“Meilahti Emergency Department”).

Is päivystys singular or plural here?

In this sentence, päivystys is:

Singular
In the nominative case (the basic dictionary form)

It refers to the concept or unit of emergency/on‑call services as a single entity, even though of course many people work there.

Why is the verb on used here? What form is it?

On is the third person singular present tense of the verb olla (“to be”).

olla = “to be” (infinitive / dictionary form)
hän on / se on = “he/she/it is”
So Päivystys on tärkeä paikka literally: “Emergency-department is important place.”

Finnish does not use a separate “is” form like English; on is the standard “is / am / are” for he/she/it (and often used in existential sentences too).

Why are tärkeä and paikka both in their basic forms? Why not some case ending?

This is a copular sentence with olla “to be”:
[subject] + on + [predicative]

Subject: Päivystys (nominative)
Predicative: tärkeä paikka (also nominative)

In Finnish, when you say “X is Y” in a general, neutral way:

Both X and Y are typically in the nominative case.
The adjective (tärkeä) agrees with the noun (paikka) in case (nominative) and number (singular).

So you get: Päivystys on tärkeä paikka.

Why doesn’t Finnish use “a” or “the” here, like “an important place” or “the important place”?

Finnish has no articles (no words like “a/an” or “the”).

Päivystys on tärkeä paikka can mean:
- “The emergency department is an important place.”
- Or, depending on context: “The emergency department is a very important place.”

Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context, word order, and sometimes pronouns, rather than from separate words.

Could the sentence also be just “Päivystys on tärkeä”? What’s the difference?

Yes, Päivystys on tärkeä is grammatically correct and means “The emergency department is important.”

Difference in nuance:

Päivystys on tärkeä.
- Focus on the quality: “Emergency care is important (in general).”
Päivystys on tärkeä paikka.
- Emphasizes that it is an important place/location (not just important as an abstract service).
- Slightly more concrete and physical-sounding.

Why is it tärkeä paikka, not tärkeä paikkaa?

Tärkeä paikka is in nominative singular, because it is the predicative (what something is).

You would see tärkeää paikkaa (partitive) in different kinds of structures, for example:

With some verbs:
Etsin tärkeää paikkaa. – “I’m looking for an important place.”
Or in certain aspectual/partial meanings.

But in “X is Y” statements, you normally use nominative for both X and Y:

Päivystys on tärkeä paikka. – nominative
Tämä on hyvä idea. – “This is a good idea.” (both nominative)

Can I change the word order to Tärkeä paikka on päivystys?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but the emphasis changes.

Päivystys on tärkeä paikka.
- Neutral: you introduce or focus on Päivystys, then describe it.
- “The emergency department is an important place.”
Tärkeä paikka on päivystys.
- Emphasis on tärkeä paikka (“the important place”) as something already known, and you identify it as päivystys.
- More like: “The important place is the emergency department.”

So the second version sounds a bit more contrastive, like you’re specifying which place is important.

How do you pronounce päivystys and tärkeä?

General rules:

Stress is always on the first syllable in Finnish.
Each written vowel is pronounced; no silent letters.

päivystys

Syllables: päi-vys-tys
Approximate sound: “pæi-vys-tys”
- ä = like “a” in British “cat”
- y = front rounded vowel; similar to French u in lune, or German ü in fühlen
- v as in “very”
Stress on päi.

tärkeä

Syllables: tär-ke-ä
Approximate sound: “tær-ke-a” (three distinct vowel sounds)
- Again, ä as in “cat”
- Final -ä is its own syllable, not silent.

Pronouncing all vowels clearly and keeping the first syllable strongest will already make you sound quite natural.

Does tärkeä change form if the noun changes? For example, if I say “important places”?

Yes. Adjectives like tärkeä agree with the noun in number and case.

Singular nominative: tärkeä paikka – “an important place”
Plural nominative: tärkeät paikat – “(the) important places”

Other cases:

tärkeässä paikassa – “in an important place”
tärkeään paikkaan – “into an important place”
tärkeistä paikoista – “from (the) important places”

In the original sentence, both are nominative singular: tärkeä paikka.

Can päivystys also mean “being on call” for a job that is not medical?

Yes. Päivystys is more general than just hospitals. It can mean:

A non-medical on‑call duty:
- IT‑päivystys – IT on‑call support
- Talohuollon päivystys – building maintenance on‑call service

So the word itself is broader, but in many everyday contexts by itself Päivystys is understood as medical emergency / ER if you’re talking about hospitals.

How would I say “I am at the emergency department” using päivystys?

You would use the inessive case (the “in/at” form):

Olen päivystyksessä. – “I am at the emergency department.” / “I’m in the ER.”

Here:

päivystys → päivystyksessä (“in/at the emergency department”)
The meaning changes from the unit as a general concept to its location.