Learn Hardcore Finnish: Minusta on tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti. - I think it is important that everyone can be happy freely.

In this structure, Minusta on tärkeää… is a fixed, very common way to say “In my opinion, it is important that…” or “I feel it is important that…”.

So the pattern is:

Minusta = in my view / according to me
Sinusta = in your view
Meistä = in our view

This is more compact and neutral than always saying minun mielestäni (“in my opinion”). Both are correct; minusta is just shorter and very natural in speech.

Why is it tärkeää and not tärkeä?

Tärkeää is the partitive form of the adjective tärkeä (important).

In the construction Minusta on tärkeää, että…, Finnish uses an impersonal + partitive predicative:

On tärkeää = it is important (in general, not a specific concrete thing)

The partitive is used here because:

The subject is a clause (että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti) instead of a simple noun.
The idea is somewhat abstract and “unbounded” (not a specific, countable item).

So:

On tärkeää, että… = It is important that…
If you had a concrete noun, you’d typically use nominative:
- Tämä asia on tärkeä. = This matter is important.

What kind of grammatical structure is Minusta on tärkeää, että…?

It’s a very common impersonal opinion construction:

[ +ELATIVE personal pronoun ] + on + adjective (partitive) + että‑clause

Functionally, it corresponds to English:

I think that…
To me, it is important that…

Examples:

Minusta on hyvä, että… = I think it’s good that…
Heistä on väärin, että… = They think it’s wrong that…

So Minusta on tärkeää, että… is a neutral way to express a personal opinion without using a verb like ajattelen or luulen.

What does että do in this sentence? Is it like “that” in English?

Yes. Että is a subordinating conjunction similar to English that introducing a content clause:

Minusta on tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
→ I think it is important *that everyone can rejoice freely.*

The verb in the että‑clause stays in the normal indicative form (saa), not a special “subjunctive” form like some other languages use.

You can think of the structure as:

Main clause (opinion): Minusta on tärkeää
Subordinate clause (content of the opinion): että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti

Why is jokainen singular even though it means “everyone”?

Jokainen literally means each one / every single person, and it behaves grammatically as singular:

jokainen saa (3rd person singular)
jokainen on, jokainen tekee, etc.

This matches English grammar: everyone is, everyone gets – we also use a singular verb in English, even though the meaning is plural-like.

If you wanted a clearly plural form, you could say:

Kaikki saavat iloita vapaasti.
(Everyone / all people may rejoice freely.)

Here kaikki is plural and the verb becomes saavat.

Why is it saa and not voi or just a simple present like iloitsee?

Saa comes from saada, which among other meanings expresses permission or the right to do something:

jokainen saa iloita ≈ everyone is allowed to rejoice / everyone may rejoice / everyone gets to rejoice

Nuances:

saa – emphasizes permission / right.
voi – emphasizes possibility / ability (can).
Just jokainen iloitsee – states a fact (everyone rejoices), not a right.

So in this sentence, saa underlines a freedom or right: people should be free to enjoy themselves.

Why is iloita in the infinitive form instead of iloitsee?

After saa, Finnish uses the basic infinitive of the main verb:

saa + infinitive = may / is allowed to / gets to do something

So:

jokainen saa iloita
= everyone may rejoice / everyone gets to rejoice

More examples with saa + infinitive:

Saat mennä. = You may go.
Hän saa päättää itse. = She may decide herself.

If you said jokainen iloitsee, you’d be making a simple factual statement (everyone rejoices), not stating that they have the freedom to do so.

What is the role of vapaasti here, and how is it different from vapaa?

Vapaasti is an adverb meaning freely. It describes how people rejoice:

iloita vapaasti = to rejoice freely

Vapaa is an adjective meaning free:

vapaa ihminen = a free person
vapaa päivä = a day off, free day

When you want to describe how an action is done, you need the adverb, so:

puhua avoimesti = to speak openly
nauraa ääneen = to laugh out loud
iloita vapaasti = to rejoice freely

Can the word order change, for example On minusta tärkeää, että…?

Yes. Finnish word order is more flexible than English. These are all grammatical:

Minusta on tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
On minusta tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.

The default and most natural variant here is the original one. Moving minusta later can slightly shift emphasis (putting more weight first on on tärkeää), but in everyday use the meaning is essentially the same.

You could also front other elements for emphasis, though it quickly becomes stylistic:

Tärkeää minusta on, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
(Emphasis on tärkeää – “What’s important, in my view, is that…”)

How would you negate this sentence correctly?

There are a few natural ways, depending on what exactly you want to negate.

Negating the importance:
- Minusta ei ole tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
  = In my opinion, it is not important that everyone may rejoice freely.
Negating the content clause (using ettei):
- Minusta on tärkeää, ettei jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
  = I think it is important that not everyone may rejoice freely.
Here the opinion is still “it is important”, but the important thing is a negative situation.

Note that in the second version että → ettei when the että‑clause is negated.

Could I say Minun mielestäni on tärkeää, että… instead of Minusta on tärkeää, että…?

Yes, absolutely. Both are correct and natural:

Minusta on tärkeää, että…
Minun mielestäni on tärkeää, että…

Differences:

Minusta is shorter and very common in speech.
Minun mielestäni sounds a bit more explicit / slightly more formal: it literally means “in my opinion”.

In many contexts, they are interchangeable. Native speakers constantly use both.

What is the case of Minusta and tärkeää, and why are those cases used?

Minusta is elative case (ending -sta / -stä), from minä.
- Here elative is used in a subjective-opinion construction:
  - minusta / sinusta / heistä on tärkeää…
Tärkeää is partitive case (ending -a / -ä).
- It’s the predicative adjective after on when the “subject” is an että‑clause or otherwise abstract:
  - On hyvä, että…
  - On selvää, että…

So the pattern [person in elative] + on + adjective in partitive + että‑clause is standard Finnish for expressing opinions about a situation.

What would be an alternative way to say the same idea in Finnish, with slightly different nuance?

A few natural alternatives:

Minun mielestäni on tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
(More explicit “in my opinion”.)
Pidän tärkeänä sitä, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
(More formal; literally “I consider it important that…”.)
On tärkeää, että jokainen saa iloita vapaasti.
(More general statement; no explicit “in my opinion” – sounds like an objective claim.)

The original Minusta on tärkeää, että… is a good, neutral, everyday way to phrase a personal value or opinion.