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Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.

Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.
Such cases help to learn carefulness and precision.

Breakdown of Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.

ja
and
oppia
to learn
auttaa
to help
tapaus
the case
tällainen
such
varovaisuus
the carefulness
tarkkuus
the precision
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Questions & Answers about Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.

What exactly does tällaiset mean here, and why is it in this form instead of tällainen?

Tällaiset is the plural form of the demonstrative adjective tällainen (“this kind of / such a”).

  • tällainen tapaus = “a case like this / such a case” (singular)
  • tällaiset tapaukset = “cases like this / such cases” (plural)

Because tapaukset (cases) is plural, the adjective must also be plural to agree with it:

  • singular: tällainen tapaus
  • plural: tällaiset tapaukset

So tällaiset literally means “(these) kinds of” or “such (plural)” and must match the number of tapaukset.

What form is tapaukset, and what is its function in the sentence?

Tapaukset is:

  • the nominative plural of tapaus (case, incident):
    • singular: tapaus
    • plural nominative: tapaukset

Its function is the subject of the verb auttavat:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset = Such cases (subject)
  • auttavat = help (verb)
  • Such cases help (someone) learn caution and accuracy.

So tapaukset is the thing doing the helping.

Why is the verb auttavat and not auttaa?

Finnish verbs have to agree with the subject in person and number.

The subject is tällaiset tapaukset (such cases), which is 3rd person plural. The verb auttaa (to help) in the 3rd person plural present tense is:

  • minä autan
  • sinä autat
  • hän auttaa
  • he auttavat

So with a plural subject, you need auttavat:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat… = Such cases help… (they help)
  • If the subject were singular (Tällainen tapaus), then you’d use auttaa:
    • Tällainen tapaus auttaa oppimaan… = Such a case helps (you) learn…
Why is it auttavat oppimaan and not auttavat oppia?

With auttaa, the usual way to express “help (someone) to do something” is:

auttaa + (someone in the partitive) + verb in the -maan/-mään form

That -maan/-mään form is the 3rd infinitive illative, often called the MA-infinitive.

So:

  • auttaa oppimaan ≈ help (someone) to learn
  • auttaa ymmärtämään ≈ help (someone) to understand
  • auttaa muistamaan ≈ help (someone) to remember

Using the basic infinitive oppia after auttaa (auttaa oppia) is not idiomatic modern Finnish. The natural pattern is auttaa + -maan/-mään.

What form is oppimaan, and how is it built from oppia?

Oppimaan is:

  • the 3rd infinitive, illative case of the verb oppia (to learn).
  • in traditional grammar terms: MA-infinitive, illative.

Formation (simplified):

  • verb: oppia
  • MA-infinitive base: oppi-
    • -ma → oppima (underlying form)
  • illative ending: -an
  • oppima
    • -an → oppimaan

Functionally, it often corresponds to English “to learn” after help:

  • auttaa oppimaan = help (someone) to learn

You’ll see this with many verbs:

  • auttaa kirjoittamaan = help (someone) to write
  • auttaa nukkumaan = help (someone) to sleep
What cases are varovaisuutta and tarkkuutta, and why are they in that case?

Both varovaisuutta (caution) and tarkkuutta (accuracy, precision) are in the partitive singular:

  • nominative: varovaisuus, tarkkuus
  • partitive singular: varovaisuutta, tarkkuutta

They are the objects of the verb idea “oppia (jotakin)” inside the oppimaan phrase:

  • oppia varovaisuutta = to learn (some) caution
  • oppia tarkkuutta = to learn (some) accuracy

Finnish often uses the partitive for:

  1. Abstract skills or qualities that you learn, have, show, etc.
  2. Something you get/learn in an indefinite, non‑complete amount.

So varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta here means “caution and accuracy (as general skills, to some extent)”, not “a single, complete piece of caution and accuracy”.

Could we say varovaisuus ja tarkkuus instead of varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta? How would that change the meaning?

Using nominative (varovaisuus ja tarkkuus) after oppia would generally sound odd or unnatural here.

With verbs like oppia, the partitive is the normal, natural choice for what is being learned when it is:

  • an abstract quality (caution, patience, accuracy), or
  • something learned in a non‑all‑or‑nothing way.

Nominative objects with oppia are rare and would tend to suggest something like a very defined, “whole” thing being acquired (e.g., a specific language or rule in a very concrete or categorical sense). Even then, Finnish typically still uses partitive:

  • oppia suomea (partitive) = learn Finnish (the language, to some degree)

So in this sentence, varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta is the idiomatic and practically the only natural choice.

Are varovaisuutta and tarkkuutta objects of auttavat or of oppimaan?

Grammatically, they belong with oppimaan (from oppia), not directly with auttavat.

The structure is:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset (subject)
  • auttavat (main verb)
  • oppimaan (infinitive phrase = “to learn”)
  • varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta (objects of “to learn”)

So the underlying meaning is:

  • tapaukset auttavat (jotakuta) oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta
    = the cases help (someone) learn caution and accuracy.

Auttavat governs the -maan infinitive oppimaan, and oppimaan then governs the partitive objects varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.

The sentence doesn’t mention who is learning. Who is actually doing the learning here?

Finnish often leaves the “generic” subject (like you, we, one, people in general) unspoken when it’s obvious from context.

Here, the structure auttavat oppimaan… implies:

  • These kinds of cases help *(you / us / people) learn caution and accuracy.*

If you want to make the learner explicit, you can add an object in the partitive after auttavat:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat meitä oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta.
    = Such cases help us learn caution and accuracy.

  • Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat sinua oppimaan…
    = Such cases help you learn…

In the original sentence, the learner is understood from context, so it’s left implicit.

Can we change the word order, for example: Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta oppimaan?

That word order is grammatically possible, but it sounds awkward and unnatural in normal Finnish.

The most natural order is to keep auttavat directly before the -maan infinitive:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta. ✅ (natural)

Moving oppimaan to the end is technically understandable but odd:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset auttavat varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta oppimaan. ❌ (stylistically bad)

In Finnish, verb + its infinitive complement (like auttaa oppimaan) tends to stay together, and objects of that infinitive typically follow the infinitive, as in the original sentence.

What is the difference between tällaiset and sellaiset in this kind of sentence? Could we say Sellaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan…?

Yes, you could say Sellaiset tapaukset auttavat oppimaan varovaisuutta ja tarkkuutta, but the nuance changes slightly.

  • tällaiset ≈ “such (cases) like these, this kind (close to me/us, or just mentioned as ‘these’ examples)”
  • sellaiset ≈ “such (cases) like those, that kind (more distant, or something mentioned earlier or in general)”

So:

  • Tällaiset tapaukset…
    implies “cases like these (that we are dealing with / that are near in context)”.

  • Sellaiset tapaukset…
    implies “cases like those / that kind of cases (perhaps mentioned earlier or more abstractly)”.

Both are grammatically correct; which one you choose depends on what you are referring to in the discourse.