Learn Hardcore Finnish: Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten. - The firefighter and the hospital staff practice together for accidents.

Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten.

The firefighter and the hospital staff practice together for accidents.

Breakdown of Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten.

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Questions & Answers about Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten.

Why is palomies singular when in English we’d probably say “firefighters”? Shouldn’t it be palomiehet?

Finnish often uses a singular job title in a generic sense: “a firefighter” meaning “firefighters in general”.

Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat…
= “The firefighter and the hospital staff practise…” (generic roles)
This can easily be understood as: “Firefighters and hospital staff practise…”

You could also say:

Palomiehet ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat…

That emphasizes more clearly that you mean multiple firefighters, but the original version is normal and idiomatic, especially in more general or written contexts.

If palomies is singular, why is the verb harjoittelevat in the plural?

Because the full subject is palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta — that’s two entities joined by ja “and”.

In Finnish, A ja B always takes a plural verb:

Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat…
“The firefighter and the hospital staff practise…”

If either part were alone, the verb would be singular:

Palomies harjoittelee… – “The firefighter practises…”
Sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelee… – “The hospital staff practises…”

Together: plural.

What exactly does sairaalan henkilökunta mean, and why is it sairaalan and not sairaala?

henkilökunta = staff, personnel (a collective noun, grammatically singular)
sairaala = hospital (dictionary form)
sairaalan is the genitive form of sairaala.

sairaalan henkilökunta literally = “the hospital’s staff”
→ natural English: hospital staff or the staff of the hospital

In Finnish, a common way to say “X staff / X department / X manager” is:

[noun in genitive] + henkilökunta / osasto / johtaja / etc.
- koulun henkilökunta – the school staff
- yrityksen johtaja – the company’s director

You cannot say *sairaala henkilökunta; that’s ungrammatical. The genitive link is required.

Is henkilökunta plural or singular? It’s “staff”, which is many people.

Grammatically, henkilökunta is singular, even though it refers to a group of people.

Sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelee…
(verb in 3rd person singular: harjoittelee)

So:

Meaning: a group (staff)
Grammar: singular noun

Here, the subject is palomies (singular) + henkilökunta (singular) → together they trigger a plural verb: harjoittelevat.

What form is harjoittelevat, and what is the base verb?

Base verb (dictionary form): harjoitella = to practise, to train, to rehearse.

harjoittelevat is:

tense: present
person/number: 3rd person plural
meaning: “(they) practise / are practising”

Pattern:

minä harjoittelen
sinä harjoittelet
hän harjoittelee
me harjoittelemme
te harjoittelette
he harjoittelevat

In this sentence, he harjoittelevat is implied by the subject palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta.

Why is the present tense harjoittelevat used for something habitual? In English we might say “practise” or “are practising”.

Finnish has only one simple present tense; it covers:

habitual actions:
He harjoittelevat usein. – They often practise.
ongoing/current actions:
He harjoittelevat nyt. – They are practising now.

Context decides whether we translate it as “practise” or “are practising”. There is no separate continuous form like English “are practising”.

What does yhdessä mean and where can it go in the sentence?

yhdessä = together (an adverb).

Here:

harjoittelevat yhdessä – “they practise together”

You can move yhdessä a bit for emphasis, but the basic position is after the verb:

Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten.
Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat onnettomuuksia varten yhdessä. (also possible; slightly different rhythm)

You wouldn’t normally put it far away from the verb unless you have a strong emphasis reason.

What does onnettomuuksia varten literally mean, and why is onnettomuuksia in that form?

onnettomuus = accident (dictionary form)
onnettomuuksia = partitive plural of onnettomuus
varten = the postposition “for (the purpose of)”

So onnettomuuksia varten literally = for accidents (for the purpose of accidents).
Idiomatic meaning: “in preparation for accidents / in case of accidents”.

varten normally takes its complement in the partitive:

sinua varten – for you
lapsia varten – for (the) children
tätä varten – for this

Here it’s plural “accidents”, so onnettomuuksia.

Could you use singular instead of plural in onnettomuuksia varten? Like “for an accident”?

You could, but it would sound different and less natural in this context.

onnettomuuksia varten – for accidents in general, in preparation for possible accidents (generic, open-ended)
A more “single-event” style might be:
- onnettomuutta varten – for an accident (partitive singular; less common in this generic sense)
- or even more idiomatic: onnettomuuden varalta – in case of an accident

For training and preparedness, Finnish naturally uses the plural partitive with varten: onnettomuuksia varten.

What kind of word is varten? Why does it come after onnettomuuksia instead of before it like English “for accidents”?

varten is a postposition.

English has prepositions: **for accidents
Finnish uses many postpositions that come after the noun:
- pöydän alla – under the table (table’s under)
- taloa vastapäätä – opposite the house
- sinua varten – for you

So the normal order is:

[noun in case form] + varten

Here: onnettomuuksia varten.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

Finnish doesn’t have articles like English a/an or the.
Definiteness/indefiniteness is understood from context, word order, and other clues.

So:

palomies can mean “a firefighter”, “the firefighter”, or “firefighters (in general)”
sairaalan henkilökunta can mean “the hospital staff” or “hospital staff”
onnettomuuksia can mean “accidents” or “some accidents” depending on context

When translating, you choose a/the/– according to natural English, not because of a specific Finnish word.

Are palomies and henkilökunta in the nominative case here?

Yes.

palomies – nominative singular
henkilökunta – nominative singular
Together: the compound subject palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta

The genitive sairaalan just modifies henkilökunta (“the hospital’s staff”). The core subject nouns (palomies, henkilökunta) are nominative, which is the normal case for the subject.

Could we say Palomiehet ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, that sentence is also correct:

Palomiehet ja sairaalan henkilökunta harjoittelevat yhdessä onnettomuuksia varten.

Difference in nuance:

Palomies ja sairaalan henkilökunta…
- more generic, can read like “(the role of) firefighter and hospital staff…”
Palomiehet ja sairaalan henkilökunta…
- explicitly plural palomiehet = “the firefighters”, feels more concrete and specific

Both are grammatical; the original is slightly more general and typical in “role-based” descriptions.