Breakdown of Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi.
Questions & Answers about Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi.
Puhujien = of the speakers / speakers’
- From puhuja = “speaker”
- Case: genitive plural (-en ending) → “of the speakers”.
äänet = voices
- From ääni = “voice, sound”
- Form: nominative plural (-t ending) → “voices” (subject of the sentence).
kuuluvat = are heard / can be heard
- From verb kuulua = “to be heard; to belong (to)”
- 3rd person plural present → agrees with äänet.
selvästi = clearly
- Adverb from selvä = “clear” → selvästi = “clearly”.
So literally: “The speakers’ voices are heard clearly.”
In Finnish, when you say “X’s Y” (possessor + thing possessed), the possessor is typically in the genitive case:
- puhuja (speaker) → puhujan ääni (the speaker’s voice)
- puhujat (speakers) → puhujien äänet (the speakers’ voices)
So:
- puhujat = “speakers” (nominative plural, used as a standalone subject like “Speakers are talking”).
- puhujien = “of the speakers / speakers’” (genitive plural, used as a possessor before a noun).
Because äänet is the thing possessed (“voices”), puhujat has to turn into puhujien to show whose voices they are.
Base noun: puhuja (speaker).
- Plural stem of puhuja is puhuja-.
- Genitive plural ending is -en (very common pattern).
So: puhuja + en → puhujien.
This genitive plural is used for:
- “of the speakers”
- “speakers’” (as in “the speakers’ voices,” “the speakers’ names,” etc.)
More examples:
- opiskelija → opiskelijoiden (of the students)
- kirja → kirjojen (of the books)
The subject of the verb kuuluvat is the part in nominative case and agreeing with the verb in number:
- äänet is nominative plural and matches kuuluvat (3rd person plural).
- puhujien is genitive plural, which marks possession (“of the speakers”) and cannot be the subject here.
So the structure is:
- Subject: äänet (voices)
- Verb: kuuluvat (are heard)
- Possessor of the subject: puhujien (of the speakers)
- Adverb: selvästi (clearly)
Logically: “The voices (of the speakers) are heard clearly.”
Kuulua and kuulla are different verbs:
kuulla = “to hear” (active, someone hears something)
- E.g. Minä kuulen äänet. = “I hear the voices.”
kuulua = “to be heard, to be audible; to belong (to)” (more passive-like meaning)
- E.g. Äänet kuuluvat. = “The voices are (being) heard / are audible.”
In Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi, we want to say “The speakers’ voices are heard clearly,” not “The speakers’ voices hear clearly,” so we must use kuulua → kuuluvat.
In Finnish, the verb agrees in number with the subject:
- ääni kuuluu = “the voice is heard” (singular)
- äänet kuuluvat = “the voices are heard” (plural)
Here the subject is äänet (voices, plural), so the verb must be kuuluvat (3rd person plural form of kuulua).
Both involve sound, but they focus on different things:
kuulua selvästi = “to be heard clearly”
- Emphasis: the sound is audible / easy to hear.
- selvästi is an adverb ("clearly").
- Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi. = “The speakers’ voices can be clearly heard.”
kuulostaa selvältä = “to sound clear / to seem clear (when heard)”
- Emphasis: your impression of the sound (e.g. the message is understandable).
- selvältä is adjective selvä in translative case (“as clear”).
So:
- kuulua selvästi → concerned with how well you can hear it.
- kuulostaa selvältä → concerned with how clear or understandable it seems.
All three can relate to clarity, but they’re not equal:
selvästi (from selvä)
- Very common general adverb meaning “clearly, distinctly, obviously.”
- Works well with sounds, speech, meaning, and also “obviously” in logic or perception.
selkeästi (from selkeä)
- Also means “clearly,” sometimes with a nuance of being well-structured or easy to understand.
- Often used about explanations, text, or layout, but also possible with sounds.
kirkkaasti (from kirkas)
- Literally “brightly” (about light, or also ringing, bright sound).
- With voices, it tends to mean “brightly, clearly” in a tonal / acoustic sense, not just audibility.
In Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi, selvästi is the most neutral and common way to say “clearly” in the sense of easy to hear / distinct.
The natural word order in standard Finnish is:
- Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi.
Other acceptable possibilities (though some feel more marked/emphatic) are:
- Äänet kuuluvat selvästi puhujien. (emphasis on äänet; the final puhujien sounds a bit stylistic/poetic)
- Selvästi kuuluvat puhujien äänet. (emphasis on “clearly”)
But Äänet puhujien kuuluvat selvästi is not natural Finnish; putting the genitive possessor after the head noun in that way is ungrammatical in standard Finnish. The possessor (puhujien) normally comes immediately before the noun it modifies (äänet).
Base form: ääni (voice, sound).
To make the nominative plural:
- The final -i often changes when forming plurals.
- For many -i words of this type, the stem changes to -e- in the plural.
So:
- ääni → ään (stem) + -et (plural nominative ending)
- Result: äänet
This pattern is common:
- kivi (stone) → kivet (stones)
- sieni (mushroom) → sienet (mushrooms)
- nimi (name) → nimet (names)
So äänet follows a regular pattern, not äänit.
Not with this exact wording.
Kuulua does have two main meanings:
- “to be heard, to be audible”
- “to belong (to a group, to something)”
But:
- For the “belong” meaning, you need to specify what they belong to, usually with illative (e.g. -iin, -lle):
- Hän kuuluu orkesteriin. = “He belongs to the orchestra.”
- Kirja kuuluu minulle. = “The book belongs to me.”
In Puhujien äänet kuuluvat selvästi, selvästi is an adverb of manner (“clearly”), which fits naturally only with the “to be heard” meaning: the voices are clearly heard. It does not read as “belong clearly.”