Breakdown of Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
Questions & Answers about Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
Voitaisiin is the passive conditional form of voida (“to be able to / can”).
- voidaan sulkea = “can be closed / can be turned off” (neutral statement of possibility)
- voitaisiin sulkea = “could be closed / could be turned off” (more hypothetical or suggestive)
Using the conditional:
- makes the sentence sound like a suggestion or proposal, not just a statement of fact
- softens the tone, a bit like English “We could close the unnecessary notifications, so there would be fewer interruptions.”
So the writer is not just saying “It is possible,” but more like “It would be a good idea; we could (if we chose to).”
Voitaisiin sulkea is in the impersonal passive, which:
- does not name a subject (no “I/you/we/they”)
- corresponds roughly to English “one could close”, “we could close”, or “they could close”, or to the English passive “could be closed”
In context:
- Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea ≈
- “One could close the unnecessary notifications,”
- “We could close the unnecessary notifications,” or
- “The unnecessary notifications could be closed.”
The passive in Finnish often implies people in general, or the relevant group given by context (for example, the team, the company, admins, etc.), but it stays vague on purpose.
Even though turhat ilmoitukset comes at the beginning and looks like a subject, grammatically it is the object of sulkea.
- Verb: sulkea (“to close”) — needs something that gets closed → the object
- That “something” here is turhat ilmoitukset (“the unnecessary notifications”)
In Finnish passive sentences, a total object appears in the nominative:
- Kirja luetaan. – “The book is read.” (book = object, but nominative)
- Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea. – same pattern
So: turhat ilmoitukset is the object in nominative plural, not a subject.
Yes, you can say both:
- Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
- Voitaisiin sulkea turhat ilmoitukset, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
Both are correct and natural. The difference is mainly focus / emphasis:
Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea…
- Emphasis on which thing we’re talking about (the unnecessary notifications).
- Similar to English: “The unnecessary notifications could be closed, so that…”
Voitaisiin sulkea turhat ilmoitukset…
- Emphasis on the action (“we could close them”).
- Closer to: “We could close the unnecessary notifications, so that…”
Word order in Finnish is flexible; moving elements to the front often highlights them as the topic or focus of the sentence.
Keskeytyksiä is the partitive plural of keskeytys (“interruption”). It’s used here because of vähemmän (“less / fewer”).
In Finnish, quantity words like:
- paljon (a lot of)
- vähän (a little / few)
- enemmän (more)
- vähemmän (less / fewer)
normally require the partitive:
- paljon keskeytyksiä – a lot of interruptions
- vähän keskeytyksiä – few interruptions
- enemmän keskeytyksiä – more interruptions
- vähemmän keskeytyksiä – fewer interruptions
So keskeytyksiä is partitive plural because it’s governed by vähemmän, and we’re talking about an indefinite quantity (“fewer interruptions in general”), not a specific, limited set of interruptions.
Olisi is the conditional of olla (“to be”). The pattern:
- … jotta X on vähemmän would be more like “so that X is less (in fact / as a result that really happens).”
- … jotta X olisi vähemmän is “so that there would be less X” — a hypothetical or intended result.
Because the main clause uses conditional (voitaisiin sulkea), it’s natural for the result clause also to be in conditional:
- Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
≈ “Unnecessary notifications could be turned off, so that there would be fewer interruptions.”
So olisi fits the “could / would” mood of the whole sentence, expressing what would happen if we carried out the suggestion.
Jotta introduces a purpose clause: it expresses the goal or intention of the action in the main clause.
- Turhat ilmoitukset voitaisiin sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
→ “The unnecessary notifications could be closed so that there would be fewer interruptions.”
(closing them has the purpose of reducing interruptions)
Comparison:
- jotta = “so that / in order that” → focus on purpose / intention
- että = “that / so that” → very general, often result or reported speech
- niin että = “so that / in such a way that” → often consequence or manner
You could sometimes say:
- … niin että keskeytyksiä on vähemmän.
but this sounds more like a result (“with the result that”) than a clear purpose.
Using jotta here makes it explicit that reducing interruptions is the intended goal of closing the notifications.
Yes, you could say tarpeettomat ilmoitukset, and it would still be correct and understandable. The nuance:
turha = unnecessary, useless, pointless
- more colloquial and common in everyday speech
- can also carry a slightly emotional tone: “annoyingly unnecessary”
tarpeeton = unnecessary, not needed
- a bit more formal and neutral
- closer to “not needed for the purpose”
So:
- turhat ilmoitukset – “unnecessary / pointless notifications” (natural, everyday style)
- tarpeettomat ilmoitukset – “notifications that are not needed” (a touch more formal / technical)
In normal spoken or informal written Finnish, turhat ilmoitukset is very typical.
Sulkea literally means “to close” (e.g. sulkea ovi – close a door), but in digital contexts it can also mean:
- to close a window / dialog
- to disable / turn off certain features (like notifications or tabs, depending on context)
Alternatives:
sammuttaa – “to turn off, switch off” (usually devices, lights, sound, etc.)
- sammuttaa tietokone – turn off the computer
- For notifications, sammuttaa ilmoitukset is also possible, especially if you’re turning the feature off.
poistaa – “to remove, delete”
- poistaa ilmoitukset – delete the notifications (already received ones)
Here, sulkea suggests closing or disabling them as a feature. In many app or settings contexts, you can see:
- sulkea ilmoitukset (“close/disable notifications”)
- ottaa ilmoitukset pois päältä (“turn notifications off”)
- poistaa ilmoitukset käytöstä (“disable notifications”)
All are possible; exact choice depends on the user interface metaphor and style. Sulkea here is neutral and natural.
The sentence is neutral standard Finnish. It would fit well in:
- written instructions
- workplace communication
- user interface texts
- semi-formal emails
Alternative phrasings with slightly different tone:
Voisimme sulkea turhat ilmoitukset, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
- “We could close the unnecessary notifications…”
- more personal (explicit we), slightly more conversational.
Kannattaisi sulkea turhat ilmoitukset, jotta keskeytyksiä olisi vähemmän.
- “It would be a good idea to close the unnecessary notifications…”
- advisory tone.
Turhat ilmoitukset kannattaa sulkea, jotta keskeytyksiä on vähemmän.
- more like a recommendation; result stated as more factual (on).
The original form with voitaisiin and passive is polite, slightly impersonal, and very typical for general recommendations or system-level suggestions.