The Guardian World 3d ago Original

Kiinassa myrsky aiheuttaa ongelmia.

A storm causes problems in China.

Finnish · A1 level

Simple Finnish

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1.

Myrsky Maysak aiheuttaa tulvia Etelä-Kiinassa.

Typhoon Maysak causes flooding in southern China.
2.

Tulva vie käärmeitä pois paikoiltaan.

The flood carries snakes away from their places.
3.

Käärmeet ovat vaarallisia lajeja.

The snakes are dangerous species.
4.

Käärmeitä on satoja.

There are hundreds of snakes.
5.

Käärmeet ovat kuningaskäärmeitä ja kobria.

The snakes are king ratsnakes and cobras.
6.

Käärmeet pakenevat tulvavettä.

The snakes are fleeing the floodwater.
7.

Paikalliset asukkaat ovat saaneet varoituksen.

Local residents have received a warning.
8.

Käärmeet ovat vaarallisia ihmisille.

The snakes are dangerous to people.

Key Words

Word	English	Form
aiheuttaa aiheuttaa	to cause causes	present tense, 3rd person singular
tulvia tulvia	to flood flooding	partitive plural (tulvia)
käärme käärmeitä	snake snakes	partitive plural
paeta pakenevat	to flee are fleeing	present tense, 3rd person plural
varoittaa varoituksen	to warn warning	genitive case (singular)
asukas asukkaat	resident residents	nominative plural

0. Kiinassa myrsky aiheuttaa ongelmia.

This sentence uses the inessive case ('-ssa') to indicate location. The inessive case answers the question 'where?' and is formed by adding '-ssa' or '-ssä' to the noun stem, depending on vowel harmony. Here, 'Kiina' becomes 'Kiinassa' (in China). Learners can use this structure to describe where something happens, e.g., 'Helsingissä sataa' (It's raining in Helsinki).

2. Tulva vie käärmeitä pois paikoiltaan.

This sentence introduces the partitive case ('-a/-ä'), which is used here to indicate an unspecified or partial quantity. 'Käärmeitä' (snakes) is in the partitive plural because the flood is moving an unspecified number of snakes. The partitive is also used after verbs that imply an incomplete action, like 'viedä' (to take/carry). Learners can practice this by using the partitive with plural nouns, e.g., 'Syön omenoita' (I eat apples).

6. Käärmeet pakenevat tulvavettä.

This sentence uses the present tense of the verb 'paeta' (to flee), conjugated as 'pakenevat' for the 3rd person plural. Finnish verbs in the present tense often end in '-vat/-vät' for plural subjects. This structure is used to describe actions happening now or habitually. Learners can apply this by conjugating verbs like 'puhua' (to speak): 'He puhuvat suomea' (They speak Finnish).