Questions & Answers about Todistus on pöydällä.
Todistus can mean several related things, and the exact English word depends on context:
- certificate / diploma – e.g. koulutodistus = school report / school certificate
- medical certificate / doctor’s note – lääkärintodistus
- proof / evidence – in more abstract contexts
- testimony – in legal or religious contexts (someone’s statement as proof)
In a simple sentence like Todistus on pöydällä, the most natural translation is usually “The certificate is on the table” or “The document is on the table”, depending on what kind of todistus is meant. Context decides.
Olla is the infinitive form, meaning to be.
On is the 3rd person singular present of olla:
- olla – to be
- (minä) olen – I am
- (sinä) olet – you are
- (hän / se) on – he/she/it is
- (me) olemme – we are
- (te) olette – you (pl./formal) are
- (he / ne) ovat – they are
In Todistus on pöydällä, the subject is todistus, so you use the 3rd person singular form on:
Todistus on… = The certificate is…
You never say todistus olla pöydällä in a normal sentence; that would be like saying “certificate to be on the table”.
Pöytä is the basic dictionary form (nominative): table.
Pöydällä is pöytä in the adessive case, which often corresponds to on or at in English.
- pöytä – table (basic form)
- pöydällä – on the table / at the table
In Finnish, you usually don’t use a separate preposition like on. Instead, you put a case ending on the noun:
- pöydällä = on/at the table
- lattialla (lattia = floor) = on the floor
- pihalla (piha = yard) = in the yard / outside
So Todistus on pöydällä literally means “The certificate is table-on”, but idiomatically “The certificate is on the table.”
This is consonant gradation, a common sound change in Finnish.
The word pöytä has the stem pöytä- in some forms and pöydä- in others. Before certain endings, t becomes d:
- nominative: pöytä (table)
- adessive: pöydä + llä → pöydällä (on the table)
- genitive: pöydän (of the table)
So the pattern is roughly:
- strong grade: t → pöytä
- weak grade: d → pöydä-
- case endings
Learners just have to memorize which words undergo this and how. Dictionaries often show the stem or give one extra form (e.g. pöytä, pöydän) to help you predict the others.
Pöydällä is in the adessive case (ending -lla / -llä).
Very roughly:
- -ssa / -ssä (inessive) = in something
- pöydässä = in the table (inside it – unusual, but possible if you mean “inside the tabletop” or a hollow table)
- -lla / -llä (adessive) = on / at / by something
- pöydällä = on the table / at the table
Choosing -lla vs -llä is about vowel harmony:
- If the word has only front vowels (y, ä, ö) → use -llä
- pöytä → pöydällä
- If it has any back vowel (a, o, u) → use -lla
- puhallin → puhaltimella
- talo → talolla
So:
- pöytä (ö, ä) → pöydällä
- pöytä in pöydässä would mean actually in the table, not on it.
Yes, you can say Todistus on pöydän päällä, and it’s also natural.
The nuance is:
- pöydällä – on/at the table in a general way
- could mean lying on top of it, or roughly at the table area
- pöydän päällä – literally on top of the table
- emphasizes the top surface of the table more clearly
In everyday speech, pöydällä is usually enough and is very common. Use pöydän päällä if you want to be very explicit that something is on the top surface (for example, to contrast it with pöydän alla = under the table).
Finnish has no articles like a/an or the, so todistus by itself can correspond to either:
- Todistus on pöydällä.
- could mean “The certificate is on the table.” (some known certificate)
- or “A certificate is on the table.” (introducing it for the first time)
Context and word order tell you which interpretation is more likely.
- If you are obviously talking about a specific, previously mentioned certificate, an English speaker will naturally read it as the certificate.
- Sometimes Finnish uses demonstratives to force a “definite” feeling:
- Se todistus on pöydällä. = That (the) certificate is on the table.
- For a more explicitly “indefinite” feeling, you might hear:
- Siellä on yksi todistus pöydällä. = There is a certificate on the table.
But in many simple contexts, Todistus on pöydällä is best translated as “The certificate is on the table.”
Yes, context can allow that interpretation, but the most typical Finnish way to say “There is a certificate on the table” is to start with the place:
- Pöydällä on todistus. = On the table is a certificate → “There is a certificate on the table.”
Compare:
- Todistus on pöydällä.
- more naturally: “The certificate is on the table.” (talking about some known certificate)
- Pöydällä on todistus.
- more naturally: “There is a certificate on the table.” (introducing the existence of one)
So Finnish often marks the “there is…” idea (existential sentence) by putting the location first and the new thing after the verb.
In Todistus on pöydällä, todistus itself is the subject.
Finnish does not normally use an extra pronoun like se (“it”) when you already have a clear noun subject.
- Finnish: Todistus on pöydällä.
- literally: Certificate is on the table.
- English: The certificate is on the table.
If you add se:
- Se todistus on pöydällä. = That certificate is on the table.
- here se is not an empty pronoun; it is a demonstrative (“that”), giving it more emphasis or specificity.
So you generally don’t say Se on todistus pöydällä or similar; that would be ungrammatical or mean something different. The noun todistus itself plays the role that English assigns to it.
A rough phonetic guide (not strict IPA, but close enough for learners):
- Todistus → TOH-dis-tus
- TOH like “tall” but shorter
- stress on the first syllable: TO-dis-tus
- on → like English “on”, but shorter and without a strong final n release: on
- pöydällä → PØY-dal-lä
- pöy like German “Pöi” or French “peu”
- a “y” glide: [pøi]
- dä like “deh” but with ä as in “cat” (more front)
- llä: long l
- ä; you hold the l a bit: -l-lä
- pöy like German “Pöi” or French “peu”
Very rough IPA:
[ˈtodistus on ˈpøydælːæ]
Main stress is always on the first syllable of each word:
TÒdistus on PÒYDällä.