The Guardian World 1d ago Original

Guerrerossa on väkivaltaa.

There is violence in Guerrero.

Finnish · A1 level

Simple Finnish

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1.

Los Ardillos -nimisen jengin hyökkäykset jatkuvat.

Attacks by a gang called Los Ardillos continue.
2.

Hyökkäykset alkoivat viime viikolla.

The attacks started last week.
3.

Kylät pommitettiin lauantaina kahdeksan tunnin ajan.

Villages were bombed for eight hours on Saturday.
4.

Pommitukset ajoivat perheet pakoon.

The bombings made families flee.
5.

800–1000 perhettä on paennut.

Between 800 and 1,000 families have fled.
6.

Perheet ovat lähteneet muille alueille.

The families have left for other areas.
7.

Ihmisoikeusjärjestö kertoo tästä.

A human rights organization reports on this.
8.

Järjestö kertoo uutisen maanantaina.

The organization reports the news on Monday.

Key Words

Word	English	Form
olla on	to be there is	3rd person singular present (existential)
hyökätä hyökkäykset	to attack attacks	noun (plural nominative)
paeta paennut	to flee have fled	past participle (perfect tense)
perhe perheitä	family families (partitive)	partitive plural
kylä kylät	village villages	nominative plural
pommittaa pommitettiin	to bomb were bombed	passive past tense

0. Guerrerossa on väkivaltaa.

This sentence uses the inessive case ('-ssa/-ssä') to indicate location. The inessive case answers the question 'where?' and is used with the verb 'olla' (to be) to describe where something exists. For example, 'Helsingissä on paljon ihmisiä' (There are many people in Helsinki). Learners can practice this by describing where things are, e.g., 'Koulussa on opettajia' (There are teachers at school).

2. Hyökkäykset alkoivat viime viikolla.

This sentence uses the past tense of the verb 'alkaa' (to start), which is 'alkoivat' (they started). Finnish past tense is formed by adding '-i' to the verb stem. For example, 'syödä' (to eat) becomes 'söin' (I ate). Here, the plural subject 'hyökkäykset' (attacks) requires the plural verb form. Learners can practice this by describing past events, e.g., 'Lapset leikkivät eilen' (The children played yesterday).

4. Pommitukset ajoivat perheet pakoon.

This sentence uses the verb 'ajaa' (to drive) in the past tense ('ajoivat') with the illative case ('pakoon') to indicate direction or result. The illative case answers the question 'where to?' and is often used with verbs of motion or causation. For example, 'Hän ajoi minut kotiin' (He drove me home). Learners can practice this by describing actions that cause movement, e.g., 'Sade ajoi meidät sisälle' (The rain drove us inside).