Questions & Answers about Jos auto on märkä, pesen sen ulkona.
Why does the sentence start with Jos and what does it do to the sentence structure?
Jos means if and introduces a conditional clause. Finnish often places the if-clause first, but it can also come after the main clause.
Structure here:
- Jos auto on märkä = the condition (subordinate clause)
- pesen sen ulkona = what happens if the condition is true (main clause)
A comma is used between these clauses in Finnish when the conditional clause comes first (as it does here).
Why is there a comma after märkä?
Finnish uses a comma to separate a subordinate clause from the main clause. The Jos... clause is subordinate, so you write:
- Jos auto on märkä, pesen sen ulkona.
If you switch the order, you still usually use a comma:
- Pesen sen ulkona, jos auto on märkä.
What does on mean here, and why is it on instead of something like is?
on is the 3rd person singular present tense of olla (to be), so it corresponds to English is:
- auto on märkä = the car is wet
Finnish doesn’t use a separate word like is; on is the Finnish form.
Why is it auto and not auton or autoa?