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Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.

Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.
The doctor says that every muscle needs stretching after the workout.

Breakdown of Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.

tarvita
to need
jälkeen
after
että
that
jokainen
every
lääkäri
the doctor
sanoa
to say
treeni
the workout
venyttely
the stretching
lihas
the muscle
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Questions & Answers about Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.

Why is there no word for the or a in Lääkäri sanoo? How do I know if it means a doctor or the doctor?

Finnish has no articles like English a or the. The bare noun lääkäri can mean:

  • a doctor (indefinite)
  • the doctor (definite)

Context decides which is more natural in English.

  • If this is the first time the doctor is mentioned, English usually uses a doctor.
  • If the doctor is already known in the context (for example, my doctor, your doctor, or the doctor we were just talking about), English usually uses the doctor.

Finnish simply says lääkäri, and the listener infers definiteness from context, not from a separate word.

What does että do here, and is it always needed after sanoo?

Että is a conjunction meaning that introducing a subordinate clause.

In Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen, the structure is:

  • Lääkäri sanoo = The doctor says
  • että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen = that every muscle needs stretching after a workout

In written Finnish, you normally keep että after verbs like sanoa (say), luulla (think), tietää (know), uskoa (believe), etc. In spoken, fast, informal speech people sometimes drop it, but the standard and clearest form is to include että.

Why is the verb sanoo in the present tense? Could it also be sanoi?
  • sanoo = says (present tense, 3rd person singular)
  • sanoi = said (past tense, 3rd person singular)

Using sanoo here expresses something that is currently or generally said, for example:

  • something the doctor regularly says
  • a statement in a text summarizing a doctor’s opinion

You would use sanoi if you were narrating a finished event in the past:

  • Lääkäri sanoi, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.
    = The doctor said that every muscle needs stretching after a workout.

The rest of the sentence (jokainen lihas tarvitsee…) usually stays in the present tense when reporting what someone says or said (indirect speech), just like in Finnish newspapers and textbooks.

Why is it jokainen lihas (every muscle) and not jokainen lihakset or jokaiset lihakset?

Jokainen always takes a singular noun:

  • jokainen lihas = every muscle (literally: each muscle)
  • jokainen ihminen = every person
  • jokainen päivä = every day

You do not say jokainen lihakset or jokaiset lihakset.

If you want to say all the muscles, you would use a different word:

  • kaikki lihakset = all (the) muscles

So:

  • jokainen lihas tarvitsee… = every muscle needs… (emphasizes each one individually)
  • kaikki lihakset tarvitsevat… = all muscles need… (treats them as a group)
Why is the verb tarvitsee singular, even though in English we say every muscle needS? How does agreement work here?

In Finnish, the verb agrees with the grammatical subject:

  • Subject: jokainen lihas = each/every muscle (singular)
  • Verb: tarvitsee = needs (3rd person singular)

So:

  • jokainen lihas tarvitsee = every muscle needs
  • kaikki lihakset tarvitsevat = all muscles need (subject is plural, so verb is plural tarvitsevat)

This is the same pattern as English:

  • every muscle needs (singular)
  • all muscles need (plural)
Why is venyttelyä in the partitive case? Why not venyttely?

Venyttely is a noun meaning stretching (the activity). Venyttelyä is its partitive singular form. Finnish often uses the partitive case for:

  1. An indefinite amount of something (similar to some in English)
  2. A mass or abstract noun as an object
  3. When talking about an activity in general

Here, venyttelyä is:

  • an abstract activity (stretching in general)
  • not a single, countable, completed event

So tarvitsee venyttelyä is like saying needs (some) stretching or needs stretching in general. Using bare venyttely as a total object would sound like a specific, bounded instance, which is not the idea here.

Why is treenin in the genitive case, and what does treenin jälkeen literally mean?

Treeni = workout / training session.
Treenin is the genitive singular form of treeni.

The postposition jälkeen (after) requires its complement in the genitive case:

  • treenin jälkeen = after (the / a) workout
  • ruoan jälkeen = after the food / meal
  • koulun jälkeen = after school

Literally:

  • treenin jälkeen = after (the) workout
    The genitive treenin “belongs to” or is governed by the postposition jälkeen.

You cannot say treeni jälkeen; with jälkeen, the prior noun must be in genitive.

Can I move treenin jälkeen earlier in the sentence, or does it have to be at the end?

Finnish word order is somewhat flexible, though there are preferences. All of these are grammatically possible:

  • Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen.
  • Lääkäri sanoo, että treenin jälkeen jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä.

The default and most neutral version is usually the first one, with treenin jälkeen at the end.
Putting treenin jälkeen earlier can emphasize the time frame (after a workout) a bit more.

Very marked or “poetic” orders are possible but less natural in everyday speech or standard writing.

How is Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä treenin jälkeen pronounced? Any traps for English speakers?

Key points:

  1. Stress is always on the first syllable of each word:
    LÄÄ-kä-ri SA-noo ET-tä JO-kai-nen LI-has TAR-vit-see VE-nyt-te-lyä TREE-nin JÄL-keen

  2. Double vowels are long; hold them noticeably:

    • Lääkäri: ää is long
    • sanoo: oo is long
    • treenin: ee is long
    • jälkeen: ee is long

    Length can change meaning in Finnish, so it matters.

  3. Ä is not like English a:

    • ä sounds like the a in cat or bat, but a bit clearer and more front.
    • Lääkäri, jälkeen, venyttelyä all have ä.

  4. Consonant clusters:

    • nytt in venyttelyä has a double t; hold it slightly longer than a single t.
    • kk in jälkeen is also long.

Say the sentence smoothly, without strong secondary stresses, and keep every vowel audible; Finnish tends not to reduce vowels like English does.

What is the difference between jokainen lihas and kaikki lihakset in nuance?

  • jokainen lihas = every muscle, each muscle

    • Focus on individual muscles, one by one.
    • Implies: there is no exception; each single muscle has this property.

  • kaikki lihakset = all (the) muscles

    • Focus on the whole set of muscles.
    • Implies: the group as a whole shares the property.

In many contexts both could be translated the same in English, but the emphasis is slightly different:

  • Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä…
    Emphasizes: you shouldn’t neglect even one muscle.

  • Lääkäri sanoo, että kaikki lihakset tarvitsevat venyttelyä…
    Emphasizes: your whole muscular system needs stretching.

Why is there a comma before että in Finnish? English often does not use one before that.

In standard written Finnish, a comma is usually placed before a conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause, such as että, koska, jos, kun:

  • Lääkäri sanoo, että jokainen lihas tarvitsee venyttelyä…
  • Hän venyttelee, koska se tuntuu hyvältä.

English punctuation is looser with that-clauses (often no comma), but Finnish is stricter: the comma visually marks the boundary between the main clause (Lääkäri sanoo) and the subordinate clause (että jokainen lihas…).