Finnish for busy people

Lähtisitkö – Finnish Song Lyrics Analyzed

If you like music and translating Finnish song lyrics, you might like this article. I will be analyzing the song Lähtisitkö by Pave Maijanen.

This is one of those songs your Finnish teacher might play for you in class because it’s filled with very nice examples of the conditional: lähtisitkö, avaisitko, lukisitko, etc. The song was released way back in 1984.

[su_box title=”Table of Contents” style=”bubbles” box_color=”#a7cb4d”]

  1. Song Lyrics
  2. Glossary
  3. Song Analyzed

[/su_box]

1. Song Lyrics – Pave Maijanen – Lähtisitkö

♬ Finnish song lyrics ♬ English translated lyrics
Jos kirjoittaisin sulle pienen kirjeen
Ja veisin sen laatikkoon
Avaisitko sen ja lukisitko loppuun,
lukisitko loppuun?
If I wrote you a little letter
And I would take it to the (mail) box
Would you open it and read it all the way,
would you read it all the way?
Bridge:
Tuntisitko vielä vanhan kaipauksen, o-o-o-o
Olisitko valmis mut kohtaamaan?
Tulisitko asemalle mua vastaan,
tulisitko vastaan?
Bridge:
Would you still feel the old longing?
Would you be ready to face/meet me?
Would you come meet me at the station,
Would you come meet me?
Refrain:
Lähtisitkö silloin kanssani järvelle?
Sulle sukeltaisin helmen valkean
Istuisitko kanssani keskipenkille?
Vastaisitko hellään suudelmaan?
Refrain:
Would you then go to the lake with me?
I would dive a white pearl for you
Would you sit with me on the middle bench?
Would you answer my tender kiss?
Tunnetko sä kuinka syksy lähenee?
Huomaatko sä ilman viilenneen?
Näetkö sä linnut jotka lentää kauas pois?
Do you feel how autumn is approaching?
Do you notice the weather has cooled down?
Do you see the birds which are flying far away?
Bridge Bridge
Refrain Refrain
La-la-la-la-laa-laa (4x) La-la-la-la-laa-laa (4x)
Bridge Bridge
Refrain (3x)
Refrain (3x)

2. Glossary

The following grammar terms have been abbreviated.

[su_list icon=”icon: star” icon_color=”#aadf67″ indent=”1″]

  • sg1: first person singular
  • sg2: second person singular

[/su_list]

I have marked different elements of the analysis using the following symbols.

[su_list icon=”icon: star” icon_color=”#aadf67″ indent=”1″]

  • in italics: base word
  • (in brackets): translation
  • ‘in single quotation marks’: literal meaning
  • “in double quotation marks”: intended meaning
  • [square brackets]: saying, idiom, fixed phrase; rection
  • <symbol: derived from, based on

[/su_list]

3. Lähtisitkö kanssani – Pave Maijanen – Finnish Song Analysis

Jos kirjoittaisin sulle pienen kirjeen
Jos if (conjunction)
kirjoittaisin kirjoittaa (to write), sg1 conditional “I would write”
sulle <sinulle: spoken language pronoun “to you”
pienen pieni (small), genitive case, adjective connected to kirjeen
kirjeen kirje (letter), genitive case, total object of kirjoittaa
If I wrote you a small letter

Adjectives are always inflected in the same form as the word they are connected to. That’s why both pieni and kirje appear in the genitive case. The genitive is used because kirje is the object of the sentence: the singer is considering writing one, whole letter to the other person.

The conditional of kirjoittaa: the marker -isi- will be added to the strong stem. For verbtype 1 verbs, this means you can use the basic form of the verb as well as the -vat form of the verb: -vat form of the verb: he kirjoitta-vat > kirjoitta-isi-n.

Ja veisin sen laatikkoon
Ja and (conjunction)
veisin viedä (to take to, drop off), sg1 conditional “I would take it to”
sen se (it), genitive case because it’s the total object of viedä
laatikkoon (posti)laatikko (post box), mihin-form “into the box”
And I would take it to the (mail) box

Usually, we talk about postilaatikko rather than just laatikko, which could mean any kind of box. The context tells us it refers to a mailbox or postbox here.

The verb viedä is used when you want to say you drop something off somewhere or take something somewhere. Two very common uses for this verb are: viedä roskat ulos (to take the trash out) and viedä lapset päiväkotiin (to take the kids to daycare).

The conditional of viedä: for the verb viedä, you will need the same stem you use for the imperfect tense: Eilen minä vei-n > minä veisi-n.

Avaisitko sen ja lukisitko loppuun, lukisitko loppuun?
Avaisitko avata (to open), sg2 conditional + -ko “would you open”
sen se (it), genitive, total object of avata
ja and (conjunction)
lukisitko lukea (to read), sg2 conditional + -ko “would you read”
loppuun loppu (the end), mihin-form “to the end”
lukisitko lukea (to read), sg2 conditional + -ko “would you read”
loppuun loppu (the end), mihin-form “to the end”
Would you open it and would you read it to the end?

Lukea loppuun means “read completely, read all the way to the end”. The singer isn’t sure that the recipient would bother opening the letter and, if they did, whether they would continue reading the whole letter. If you’re interested, you could read about when to use loppu, lopussa and lopuksi in more detail.

The conditional of avata: this verb doesn’t have consonant gradation at all. Take the present tense’s -vat form of the verb and remove one -a- from the stem before adding the conditional’s -isi- marker: he avaa-vat > ava-isi-t-ko.

The conditional of lukea: the -isi- marker will be added to the strong stem of this verb. For verbtype 1 verbs, this means you can use the basic form of the verb as well as the -vat form of the verb: he luke-vat > luk-isi-t-ko. Note how the -e- from the present tense gets removed when adding -isi-.

Bridge

Tuntisitko vielä vanhan kaipauksen, o-o-o-o
Tuntisitko tuntea (to feel), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you feel”
vielä still
vanhan vanha (old), genitive case because of kaipaus
kaipauksen kaipaus (longing, desire), genitive case because it’s the total object of tuntea
Would you still feel the old longing?

The object of a sentence will be inflected in the genitive case when it refers to one, whole thing. In this case, the singer is asking a yes-or-no question: Do you, or don’t you, still feel the longing. While “longing” is an abstract noun, in this song it’s a specific thing: the specific longing they felt earlier in their relationship. That’s why we use the genitive case here.

The conditional of tuntea: the -isi- marker will be added to the strong stem. For verbtype 1 verbs, this means you can use the basic form of the verb as well as the -vat form of the verb: he tunte-vat > tunt-isi-t-ko. Note how the -e- from the present tense gets removed when adding -isi-.

Olisitko valmis mut kohtaamaan?
Olisitko olla (to be), sg2 conditional, + -ko “would you be”
valmis ready, rection: [valmis + -maan]
mut > minut (spoken language pronoun), accusative case, total object of kohdata
kohtaamaan kohdata (to meet, to face), third infinitive‘s mihin-form because of valmis
Would you be ready to face/meet me?

The conditional of olla: for verbtype 3 verbs, you will need the consonant stem of the verb: ol– + isi.

When the word valmis “ready” is used in combination with a verb, you will use the -maan form of said verb: Olen valmis lähtemään (I’m ready to leave), Oletko valmis puhumaan asiasta (Are you ready to talk about the thing), Mitä olette valmiita tekemään (What are you ready to do).

The verb kohdata will get a total object: you’re meeting/facing the whole person, thing or situation. When using a personal pronoun, you will use the accusative case: e.g. “Kohtaan sinut” (I face you), “Kohtaamme hänet” (We face him). If the song had had a name rather than a pronoun, it would appear in the genitive case: Olisitko valmis kohtaamaan Liisan?

Tulisitko asemalle mua vastaan, tulisitko vastaan?
Tulisitko tulla (to come), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you come”
asemalle asema (station), allative case “to the station”
mua <minua (spoken language pronoun), partitive case because of vastaan
vastaan phrase: [tulla vastaan] “to come meet”
tulisitko tulla (to come), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you come”
vastaan phrase: [tulla vastaan] “to come meet”
Would you come meet me at the station, would you come meet?

The conditional of tulla: for verbtype 3 verbs, you will need the consonant stem of the verb: tul– + isi.

The phrase tulla vastaan asemalle is very useful to express that you go pick someone up from the train station: you go and wait for their arrival there. We can also use the missä-form of this phrase: olla vastassa asemalla, i.e. to wait at the train station for someone’s arrival in order to pick them up.

The object of the phrase tulla vastaan will be inflected in the partitive case (e.g. Tulen sinua vastaan, Tuletko meitä vastaan).

Refrain

Lähtisitkö silloin kanssani järvelle?
Lähtisitkö lähteä (to leave, go, come), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you come”
silloin then (at that time)
kanssani kanssa (with) + sg1 possessive suffix -ni “with me”
järvelle järvi (lake), allative case “to the lake”
Would you then come to the lake with me?

I find it hard to explain why the verb lähteä is used here rather than mennä or tulla. All three would be possible in this sentence: Lähtisitkö kanssani? Tulisitko kanssani? Menisitkö kanssani?.

The conditional of lähteä: the -isi- marker will be added to the strong stem of this verb. For verbtype 1 verbs, this means you can use the basic form of the verb as well as the -vat form of the verb: he lähte-vät > läht-isi-t-kö. Note how the -e- from the present tense gets removed when adding -isi-.

You might want to check out this article which explains the difference between silloin and sitten.

The word kanssa is usually a postposition, which means it will generally appear in sentences with a word in the genitive case (e.g. äidin kanssa “with mother”, Liisan kanssa “with Liisa”, ystävien kanssa “with friends”). In the song, the genitive is replaced with a possessive suffix. We could say minun kanssa (informal), “minun kanssani” (slightly archaic) or just plain kanssani.

Järvelle is inflected in the allative case here to express that they would be going near the lake; not into the lake. You can read more about this difference in this article.

Sulle sukeltaisin helmen valkean
Sulle <sinulle (spoken language pronoun), allative case, “to you”
sukeltaisin sukeltaa (to dive), sg1 conditional “I would dive”
helmen helmi (pearl), genitive case because it’s the total object here
valkean valkea (white), genitive case because it describes helmi
I would dive a white pearl for you

Neutral word order: Sukeltaisin sulle valkean helmen. The changed word order doesn’t change the meaning in any way; it’s just a stylistic choice.

The conditional of sukeltaa: the -isi- marker is added to the strong stem of the verb. For verbtype 1 verbs, this means you can use the basic form of the verb as well as the -vat form of the verb: he sukelta-vat > sukelta-isi-n.

The words valkea and valkoinen both mean “white”. Adjectives are inflected in the same form as the noun they’re attached to. In this case, the noun is helmi, which is inflected in the genitive case. The word helmi is an old word ending in an -i, so the -i gets replaced with an -e- before the genitive’s -n.

Istuisitko kanssani keskipenkille?
Istuisitko istua (to sit), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you sit”
kanssani kanssa (with) + sg1 possessive suffix -ni “with me”
keskipenkille keskipenkki (middle bench), allative case “onto the bench”
Would you (come) sit with me on the middle bench?

The conditional of istua: this verb doesn’t have consonant gradation at all, so you just add the -isi- marker to the stem of the verb: he istu-vat > istu-isi-n.

The word kanssa is usually a postposition, which means it will generally appear in sentences with a word in the genitive case (e.g. äidin kanssa “with mother”, Liisan kanssa “with Liisa”, ystävien kanssa “with friends”). In the song, the genitive is replaced with a possessive suffix. We could say minun kanssa (informal), “minun kanssani” (slightly archaic) or just plain kanssani.

By keskipenkki, the singer means the middle bench of a rowing boat. The verb istua can have two rections: you can sit on a bench (istua penkillä); or go sit onto the bench (istua penkille).

Vastaisitko hellään suudelmaan?
Vastaisitko vastata (to answer, respond to), sg2 conditional + -ko, “would you answer”
hellään hellä (tender), illative case because it describes the noun suudelma
suudelmaan suudelma (kiss), illative case because vastata requires the mihin form
Would you answer my tender kiss?

The conditional of vastata: this verb doesn’t have consonant gradation at all. Take the present tense’s -vat form of the verb and remove one -a- from the stem before adding the conditional’s -isi- marker: he vastaa-vat > vasta-isi-t-ko.

The verb vastata requires the mihin form of the thing you are replying to. Check out the following example sentences: Vastaan kysymykseen “I respond to the question”; Vastaa puhelimeen! “Answer the phone!” Vastasitko kirjeeseen? “Did you reply to the letter?”. If you would be replying to a person, you would use the -lle form: Vastaan opettajalle “I reply to the teacher”. Read more about rections here.

Tunnetko sä kuinka syksy lähenee?
Tunnetko tuntea (to feel), sg2 present tense + -ko, “do you feel”
<sinä (spoken language pronoun)
kuinka how
syksy autumn
lähenee lähetä (to approach, come near), sg3 present tense “approaches”
Do you feel how autumn is approaching?

Starting from this line of the song, the questions are no longer conditionals: the singer is wondering if the other person is also noticing the same changes happening in the outside world. That’s why he’s asking tunnetko “do you feel” rather than tuntisitko “would you feel”.

Huomaatko sä ilman viilenneen?
Huomaatko huomata (to notice), sg2 present tense + -ko, “do you notice”
<sinä (spoken language pronoun)
ilman ilma (weather, air), genitive case because of että-participle
viilenneen viiletä (to become colder, cool down), the genitive form of the verb’s NUT-participle
Do you notice the weather has cooled down?

The word ilma can mean both weather and air. Both of these cool down in autumn of course.

The construction in this line is called referatiivirakenne in Finnish. I usually refer to it as the että-participle. We could rephrase this question as “Huomaatko sä, että ilma on viilennyt?

Some similar example sentences:
Huomaan, että ilma on viilennyt. > Huomaan ilman viilenneen “I notice that the weather has cooled down”.
Huomaan, että aurinko on laskenut. > Huomaan auringon laskenneen “I notice that the sun has set”.
Huomaan, että Liisa on muuttunut. > Huomaan Liisan muuttuneen “I notice that Liisa has changed”.

Näetkö sä linnut jotka lentää kauas pois?
Näetkö nähdä (to see), sg2 present tense + -ko, “do you see”
<sinä (spoken language pronoun)
linnut lintu (bird), T-plural “the birds”
jotka jokapronoun, T-plural form “which”
lentää to fly, spoken language third person plural form
kauas kaukana (far away), in the mihin form
pois away
Do you see the birds which are flying far away?

This line contains the relative pronoun joka, which is used to combine two sentences. We could split the song’s line up in two sentences: 1. Näetkö linnut? “Do you see the birds?” 2. Linnut lentävät pois. “The birds fly away.”
The subject of the second sentence (linnut) is inflected in the T-plural, which is why the joka-pronoun is also inflected in the combined sentences: Näetkö linnut, jotka lentävät pois? “Do you see the birds which fly away?”

To comply with standard language norms, the verb in this line should be inflected in the plural: lentävät rather than lentää. However, this song uses spoken language in several other sections, so the singular form doesn’t feel out of place. It’s common in spoken language to say “ne menee” rather than “ne menevät” (read more here).

The adverb kaukana is usually inflected in one of three cases: the missä-form kaukana “far away”, the mistä-form kaukaa “from far away” or the mihin-form kauas “(towards) far away”. In the song, the birds are migrating to the South, so there’s a movement towards a faraway location.

Bridge + Refrain 1x

La-la-la-la-laa-laa (4x)

Bridge 1x + Refrain 3x

There you have the whole song! Lähtisitkö is a pretty old song, but it’s full of such nice examples of the conditional mood that it makes it worth listening to. Do you have a song suggestion for me to analyze next? Let me know in the comments!

7 Comments

  • Kiitos

  • Link pyramid, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3
    Primary – 500 references with positioning within pieces on writing sites

    Level 2 – 3000 link Rerouted connections

    Tertiary – 20000 hyperlinks mix, posts, writings

    Using a link network is helpful for search engines.

    Necessitate:

    One link to the domain.

    Query Terms.

    Accurate when 1 keyword from the resource title.

    Highlight the extra service!

    Crucial! Tier 1 references do not coincide with 2nd and Tertiary-tier connections

    A link structure is a mechanism for enhancing the circulation and link profile of a online platform or social network

  • heello tthere and thanbk you ffor yor info – I’ve
    certainly pickied uup anything new from right here. I did
    howesver expertise a few technical issues usung this site, as I
    experiencedd to reloiad the weeb site lots of timds previous too I could gett itt to lkad correctly.
    I hadd been wwondering iff your webb host is OK? Nott that I’m complaining, bbut sluggis loading instances times wiull often affect
    your placement in goole and culd damage your high quality score if aads and marketing with Adwords.

    Welll I’m addinhg this RSS to my e-mail annd can look out for much morre oof your respecrive interesting content.
    Maake sure you updatre this again soon.

  • Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme oof this website.
    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot oof times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between superb usxability and visual appearance.

    I must sayy youu havge dpne a fantastic jjob with this.

    Also, thhe blog lokads extreely fast forr me on Chrome.
    Excxellent Blog!

  • Good write-up, I¦m normal visitor of one¦s website, maintain up the nice operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.

  • Sweet blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thank you

  • It¦s actually a nice and helpful piece of info. I¦m happy that you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *