Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.

In this house it has always been cleaned before Christmas.

Breakdown of Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• -ssa: in
• ennen: before
• siivota: to clean
• aina: always
• talo: the house
• joulu: the Christmas

Questions & Answers about Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.

What does Tässä talossa literally mean, and what cases are used here?

Tässä talossa means “in this house.”

Grammatically:

• tämä talo = this house (basic form)
• In the inessive case (“in” something):
  • tämä → tässä (inessive of this)
  • talo → talossa (inessive of house)

Finnish often makes all the words in a noun phrase agree in case, so both words take the inessive:

• tämä talo → tässä talossa = in this house

Why is it talossa and not something like talon?

Because the meaning needed is “in this house” (location inside), which uses the inessive case (-ssa/-ssä).

• talossa = in the house (inessive)
• talon = of the house (genitive)
• taloa = house in the partitive (among other uses)

So:

• Tässä talossa = in this house
• Tämän talon = of this house (e.g. Tämän talon katto = the roof of this house)

What is the function of on in on aina siivottu?

On here is the auxiliary verb to be in the third person singular present. Together with the passive participle siivottu, it forms the present perfect passive:

• on (has / have been)
• siivottu (cleaned)

So on siivottu ≈ “has been cleaned” or “people have cleaned”.

You cannot normally leave on out; without it, siivottu alone would just be a participle, not a full finite verb.

What exact form is siivottu, and how is it formed from siivota?

The verb siivota means “to clean.”

Siivottu is:

• the past passive participle of siivota.

Pattern (simplified):

• infinitive: siivota (to clean)
• present passive: siivotaan (is cleaned / people clean)
• past passive (imperfect): siivottiin (was cleaned / people cleaned)
• past passive participle: siivottu (cleaned)

The present perfect passive is:

• on
  • past passive participle
    → on siivottu (has been cleaned / people have cleaned)

Why is there no subject in on aina siivottu? Who is doing the cleaning?

Finnish often uses what is traditionally called the passive (more accurately, an impersonal form) when:

• the subject is unknown, irrelevant, or generic (“people”, “they”, “we around here”).

In on aina siivottu:

• there is no explicit subject like “they” or “we”.
• The meaning is roughly: “people in this house have always cleaned before Christmas” or “this house has always been cleaned before Christmas.”

English usually needs either:

• a passive: has always been cleaned, or
• a generic subject: they/we always clean.

Finnish just uses the passive/impersonal form siivottu for this.

How is on aina siivottu different from siivotaan or siivottiin?

All three are passive/impersonal, but they differ in tense and aspect-like feel:

• siivotaan

  • tense: present
  • meaning: is cleaned / people clean / they clean (habitual or current)
  • Tässä talossa siivotaan ennen joulua. = In this house they clean before Christmas (as a rule).

• siivottiin

  • tense: past (imperfect)
  • meaning: was cleaned / people cleaned / they cleaned (on one or more specific past occasions)
  • Tässä talossa siivottiin ennen joulua. = In this house they (once/then) cleaned before Christmas.

• on siivottu

  • tense: present perfect
  • meaning: has been cleaned / people have cleaned
  • suggests the action has been done repeatedly or up to now, with relevance to the present.

In your sentence:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.
  → In this house, they have always cleaned before Christmas.

Why not use on aina siivonnut instead of on aina siivottu?

On siivonnut is active voice, and it requires a subject:

• Hän on siivonnut. = He/She has cleaned.
• Olemme siivonneet. = We have cleaned.

If you said:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivonnut ennen joulua.

it would sound incomplete and incorrect because we are missing the subject:

• Who has always cleaned? He? She? We? Someone?

To keep the subject generic/unspecified, Finnish uses the passive:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.
  = In this house, they have always cleaned before Christmas.

What does aina do in this sentence, and can it be placed elsewhere?

Aina means “always.” It shows that the cleaning is a regular, consistent habit over time.

Default, natural position:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.

Moving aina is possible, but changes emphasis slightly:

• Aina on siivottu tässä talossa ennen joulua.
  – Emphasis on always (“It has always been the case that…”).

• Tässä talossa on siivottu aina ennen joulua.
  – Focuses a bit more on before Christmas being the time when it always happens.

All are understandable; the original is the most neutral.

Why is it ennen joulua and not ennen joulu or ennen joulun?

The key point: ennen (“before”) is a preposition that normally requires the partitive case.

• joulu = Christmas (basic form, nominative)
• joulua = Christmas (partitive)
• ennen joulua = before Christmas

So:

• ennen
  • partitive → ennen joulua

Using ennen joulu or ennen joulun would be grammatically wrong in standard Finnish in this meaning. The correct is ennen joulua.

Does ennen always take the partitive, and can I change the word order of ennen joulua?

1. Case requirement
   In typical temporal and many other uses, ennen takes the partitive:

   • ennen joulua = before Christmas
   • ennen kesää = before the summer
   • ennen iltaa = before evening

2. Word order
   You can move ennen after the noun, making it a postposition:

   • ennen joulua = joulua ennen
     Both mean before Christmas.

In your sentence, both:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.
• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu joulua ennen.

are grammatically correct; the first is more common and neutral.

Could the whole sentence be in the present passive instead: Tässä talossa siivotaan aina ennen joulua? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s a perfectly good sentence:

• Tässä talossa siivotaan aina ennen joulua.

Difference in nuance:

• on aina siivottu

  • present perfect passive
  • “has always been cleaned”
  • looks at the situation over time up to the present, emphasizing a long-standing tradition.

• siivotaan aina

  • present passive
  • “is always cleaned / they always clean”
  • describes a general rule or habit now (and typically still true), but with slightly less “historical” feel.

In many everyday contexts, both would convey almost the same idea.

How would I say this in active voice if I want to specify “we” as the cleaners?

A natural active version with “we” as the subject:

• Olemme aina siivonneet tämän talon ennen joulua.
  = We have always cleaned this house before Christmas.

Breakdown:

• olemme = we have / we are (1st person plural of olla)
• aina = always
• siivonneet = past active participle (we have cleaned)
• tämän talon = this house (genitive: the object in a “total” sense)
• ennen joulua = before Christmas

Is the word order Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua fixed, or can it be changed?

Finnish word order is relatively flexible, but changes in word order usually change emphasis.

Some acceptable variants:

1. Aina on siivottu tässä talossa ennen joulua.
   – Emphasis on aina (“always”).

2. Ennen joulua on aina siivottu tässä talossa.
   – Emphasis on before Christmas as the key time.

3. Tässä talossa on siivottu aina ennen joulua.
   – Slight extra focus on the “before Christmas” period as when it always happens.

The original:

• Tässä talossa on aina siivottu ennen joulua.

puts neutral focus on “in this house”, then tells what has always happened and when. It’s the most straightforward, unmarked order.