Breakdown of Teen tehtävälistan ja kuittaan jokaisen kohdan vasta sitten, kun se on oikeasti valmis; nyt on sinun vuorosi tehdä tiskit.
Questions & Answers about Teen tehtävälistan ja kuittaan jokaisen kohdan vasta sitten, kun se on oikeasti valmis; nyt on sinun vuorosi tehdä tiskit.
Finnish often drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows the person. Teen is 1st person singular (I do / I’m doing / I will do), so minä is usually unnecessary. You add minä mainly for emphasis or contrast.
Formally it’s the present tense, but Finnish present tense can also refer to the future when the context makes it clear. So teen can mean I make / I’m making / I’ll make. Finnish doesn’t have a separate future tense like English.
Tehtävälistan is the genitive/accusative-looking object form with -n. Here it marks a total object: the idea is that you make a whole task list (a complete, bounded action), not just some of a task list.
The verb is kuitata. In the present tense, the stem behaves like kuittaa-, so minä kuittaan (I check off / acknowledge). The double tt is part of the verb’s stem pattern (and matches the strong grade you see in forms like hän kuittaa).
Both words are in the genitive singular: jokaisen (of each) + kohdan (of a point/item). Together they function as the object: kuittaan jokaisen kohdan = you check off each item completely (again a “total object” idea).
Partitive (jokaisia kohtia) would suggest an unbounded or incomplete action (like checking off items in a vague/ongoing way, or not implying completion). Here, the sentence emphasizes completion: you only check an item off when it’s truly done, so jokaisen kohdan fits that “complete each one” meaning.
It’s a two-part “only then when” structure:
- vasta sitten = only then
- kun introduces a time clause = when So vasta sitten, kun se on oikeasti valmis means you do the main action only at the point when the condition is met.
Because kun se on oikeasti valmis is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause). Finnish normally separates subordinate clauses with a comma.
Both exist, but they’re slightly different:
- on valmis = is ready / finished (a straightforward state/result)
- on valmiina (essive -na) = is in a ready state / is ready and waiting/available Here the sentence focuses on being genuinely finished, so valmis is the natural choice.
Se refers back to each item/point on the task list (kohta). Finnish often uses se for things (and sometimes even for people in casual speech), but here it clearly points to the task-list item.
It’s built from:
- sinun = your (genitive of sinä)
- vuoro-si = turn + your (noun vuoro
- possessive suffix -si)
Using both (sinun
- -si) is common for emphasis/clarity. You could also say just vuorosi in many contexts.
- possessive suffix -si)
Using both (sinun
Tehdä is the basic infinitive (often called the 1st infinitive), used after nouns and expressions like on minun vuoroni ... (it’s my turn to ...). So on sinun vuorosi tehdä tiskit literally means it is your turn to do the dishes.
Tiskit is typically plural in Finnish when meaning the chore (like English the dishes). As an object, it’s a total object in the plural, and in Finnish the plural total object often looks like the nominative plural form—so tiskit is the expected form here.
Yes, semicolons are used in Finnish much like in English: to link closely related independent clauses. You could also write it as two sentences:
- Teen tehtävälistan ja kuittaan jokaisen kohdan vasta sitten, kun se on oikeasti valmis. Nyt on sinun vuorosi tehdä tiskit.