The Guardian Life 6h ago Original

Etelä-Kiinassa sataa paljon.

It is raining a lot in southern China.

Finnish · A1 level

Simple Finnish

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1.

Sadetta tulee yli 100 millimetriä.

Rainfall exceeds 100 millimetres.
2.

Monet alueet saavat 150–200 millimetriä.

Many areas will get 150–200 millimetres.
3.

Viranomaiset ovat huolissaan tulvista.

Officials are worried about floods.
4.

He pitävät kokouksia varotoimista.

They are holding meetings about precautions.
5.

Tulvien vuoksi patoja tarkkaillaan tiiviisti.

Due to floods, dams are closely monitored.
6.

Patojen täytyy olla tyhjiä.

Dams must be empty.
7.

Sadetta odotetaan keskiviikkoon asti.

Rain is expected until Wednesday.
8.

Tulvariskit ovat suuret.

Flood risks are high.

Key Words

Word	English	Form
sataa sataa	to rain it is raining	3rd person singular present tense (impersonal)
tulvia tulvista	to flood about floods	elative plural (partitive case for abstract nouns)
pato patoja	dam dams (object)	partitive plural
valvoa valvotaan	to monitor are monitored	passive present tense
odottaa odotetaan	to expect/wait is expected	passive present tense
olla on oltava	to be must be	necessity construction (3rd infinitive + 'olla')

0. Etelä-Kiinassa sataa paljon.

This sentence uses the impersonal verb form 'sataa' (it rains). In Finnish, weather expressions often use impersonal verbs where English uses 'it' as a subject. The adverb 'paljon' (a lot) describes the intensity of the rain. Learners can use this pattern for other weather expressions, like 'tuulee' (it is windy) or 'salamaa' (there is lightning).

5. Tulvien vuoksi patoja tarkkaillaan tiiviisti.

The phrase 'tulvien vuoksi' (due to floods) uses the genitive plural form of 'tulva' (flood) with the postposition 'vuoksi' (because of). This is a common way to express cause in Finnish. The verb 'tarkkaillaan' (are monitored) is in the passive form, which is often used in news reports to focus on the action rather than the actor. Learners can use this structure to describe reasons or causes in formal contexts.

7. Sadetta odotetaan keskiviikkoon asti.

The phrase 'keskiviikkoon asti' (until Wednesday) uses the illative case ('-Vn') to indicate the endpoint of time. The postposition 'asti' (until) requires the illative case. This is a useful pattern for expressing deadlines or time limits. For example, 'maanantaihin asti' (until Monday). The passive verb 'odotetaan' (is expected) is also common in news language.