Tip #1: Word order
It is in general better to start from a larger entity (in this case, the name of the game) and proceed towards smaller entities (in this case, a certain battle in the game).
EN: Campaign battles in Legend of Solgard are
FI: Legend of Solgårdissa Kampanja-taisteluista
It is always important to pay attention to the word order when translating something from English to Finnish, since the languages work differently. As an example: Dungeon Bossit (Dungeon Bosses) ovat (are) ryöstösaalista sisältävien uurnien (urns full of loot) ympäröimiä (surrounded by).
EN: As an added bonus, you’ll find the Dungeon Bosses are often surrounded by urns full of loot.
FI: Lisäbonuksena huomaat, että Dungeon Bossit ovat usein ryöstösaalista sisältävien uurnien ympäröimiä.
Tip #2: Punctuation in text
There is a comma between a main clause and a question that is in the form of a subordinate clause.
EN: See how many you can smash in a session.
FI: Kokeile, kuinka monta voit murskata yhden pelin aikana.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/ohje/94
Tip #3: Hyphen - / en dash –
There should be a space before the hyphen in compound words that consist of many parts. However, if there is just one word before the hyphen, there should not be a space: Asetukset-kuvake. (E.g. All Stars -joukkue vs. Stars-joukkue. (joukkue = team))
EN: Tap on ‘Settings’ icon for your iPhone / iPad
FI: Napauta iPhonen / iPadin "Asetukset"-kuvaketta
For further reference, please check http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/ohje/131
In Finnish, when there’s a range of numbers, dates or distance, en dash is used instead of a hyphen. There is also no space in between the numbers.
EN: We are open 7 days a week from 7am - 8pm.
FI: Olemme avoinna 7 päivää viikossa klo 7.00–20.00.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/ohje/79
Tip #4: Idiomatic expressions, sentence structure
The suggested word-by-word translation was Tämä on jotain, mitä en ole nähnyt aiemmin - -. When it comes to idiomaticity, Finnish and English function differently. The word-for-word translation ends up in a long structure that can be avoided by omitting the this is something -part and just writing I haven’t seen anything like this before. It makes the language sounds more natural and the sentence structure less heavy, since we can replace the main clause and subordinate clause by just one main clause (Tämä on jotain [main clause], mitä en ole nähnyt aiemmin [subordinate clause] → En ole nähnyt mitään tällaista ennen [main clause]).
EN: This is something I haven't seen before but I'd be happy to look into this for you.
FI: En ole nähnyt mitään tällaista ennen, mutta katson asiaa mielelläni.
The suggested translation was “Arvostan kaikkia [sic] lisätietoa ongelmasta, joita [sic] olet kokenut”. We can replace heavy main clause + subordinate clause structures by participle structure: Arvostan kaikkea lisätietoa ongelmasta [main clause], jonka olet kokenut [subordinate clause] → Arvostan kaikkea lisätietoa kokemastasi ongelmasta [main clause with the agent participle].
Ongelma, jonka olet kokenut → kokemasi ongelma (agent participle) For further reference, please check: https://thefinnishteacher.weebly.com/agenttipartisiippi--the-agent-participle.html
EN: I'd appreciate any additional information about the problem you're experiencing.
FI: Arvostan kaikkea lisätietoa kokemastasi ongelmasta
Tip #5: Vocabulary
The suggested translation was “askeleet, jotka otit” (“the steps you took”). However, ‘askel’ (‘a step’) means a literal step someone takes when walking. When we want to refer to those moves or phases that we made with our computer before a certain problem occurred, ‘vaihe’ (‘phase’) would be a better option.
EN: The steps you took before running into trouble
FI: Vaiheet, jotka suoritit ennen kuin ongelma ilmeni
Tip #6: Time format
The separator between hours and minutes is a period, not a colon. In addition, zeroes are not added, e.g. 07.00 is not correct. Finnish also uses en dash between the hours instead of a hyphen. No space is added between the numbers.
EN: We are open 7 days a week from 7am - 8pm.
FI: Olemme avoinna 7 päivää viikossa klo 7.00–20.00.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/haku/kellonajat/ohje/51
Tip #7: Agreement
The suggested translation was “arvostan kaikkia (pl.) lisätietoa (sing.) ongelmasta (sing.), joita (pl.) olet kokenut”, which mixes the plural and singular forms. “Kokemasi ongelma” (“the problem you have experienced”) is singular, and in that case the relative pronoun should also be singular in form.
EN: I'd appreciate any additional information about the problem you're experiencing
FI: Arvostan kaikkea lisätietoa ongelmasta, jonka olet kokenut.
However, please check Tip #2 how to replace main clause + subordinate clause by agent participle.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/ohje/512 (joka/mikä pronominit) and https://thefinnishteacher.weebly.com/agenttipartisiippi--the-agent-participle.html (Agent participle)
Tip #8: Subordinate clause, subordinate conjunctions
The suggested translation had “että” (“that) instead of “kun” (“when”). While the translation is correct, it does not fit in the sentence.
EN: I know it may be frustrating that everything is out of reach with your age.
FI: Tiedän, että voi olla turhauttavaa, kun mikään ei ole ulottuvilla ikäsi takia.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/ohje/92 and http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/haku/konjunktiot/ohje/484
Tip #9: Case government (noun/verb + grammatical case)
The verb + preposition (to point towards) construction is in Finnish “viitata + mihin” (“to refer to/point towards” + illative case)
EN: The errors are all pointing towards an unreliable Internet connection
FI: Kaikki virheet viittaavat epäluotettavaan internetyhteyteen
For further reference, please check: https://thefinnishteacher.weebly.com/rektiot--rections.html and https://koppa.jyu.fi/kurssit/133064/materiaalikansio/tunti-28.9/verbien-rektioita
The verb “auttaa” (to assist/help) can take either partitive, inessive or illative case, but this sentence structure “auttaa + missä” (to help/assist + “in which”) requires partitive case (to help/assist + who) and inessive case (to help/assist + in which matter).
EN: I am glad to assist you in relation to the updates on the GO BASIC.
FI: Olen iloinen voidessani auttaa sinua GO BASICia koskevissa päivityksissä.
For further reference, please check: https://www.suomesta.ru/2013/02/03/rektio-a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_noun_cases
The verb “to connect” (“liittää”) requires illative case.
EN: In order to update your TomTom, you have to connect it using WiFi.
FI: TomTomisi päivittämiseksi sinun on liitettävä se WiFiin.
For further reference, please check: https://www.suomesta.ru/2013/02/03/rektio-l/
To start/to initiate (aloittaa) + verbal noun (verbaalisubstantiivi); the -minen form. E.g. Tehdä (to do) - tekeminen (doing).
EN: I've now initiated a refund for the missing amount.
FI: Olen nyt aloittanut hyvityksen tekemisen puuttuvasta summasta.
For further reference, please check: https://www.slideshare.net/MinnaNiemela/verbaalisubstantiivi-minen-61590591 and https://www.suomesta.ru/2013/02/03/rektio-a/
The case that follows number is partitive. E.g. “3 cars” - “3 autoa”. (In addition, Finnish also uses en dash between range of numbers.)
EN: Good text responses are 3-5 sentences per question. FI: Hyvä tekstivastaus on 3ꟷ5 lausetta kysymystä kohden.
For further reference, please check: https://www11.edu.fi/ymmarra/index.php?moduli=kielioppi&sivu=partitiivi and http://webcgi.oulu.fi/oykk/abc/kielenhuolto/oikeinkirjoitus/valimerkit/ajatusviiva/#ajatusviiva_aaripaailmausten
Tip #10: Word order
It makes the sentence more clear if a question starts with a question word (what, where, etc.) or the question suffix -ko/-kö.
EN: As a first measure, can you please go to URL-0 and test your Internet speed?
FI: Voitko ensimmäisenä toimenpiteenä mennä URL-0 ja testata internetisi nopeuden?
Tip #11: Vocabulary
When it comes to the word what, (“mikä/mitä” in Finnish), mikä is the basic form and mitä is the partitive form. Mikä is also used when the answer is countable, in this case it is the internet speed.
EN: Please let me know what your Internet speed is.
FI: Kerro minulle, mikä internetisi nopeus on.
For further reference, please check: http://randomfinnishlesson.blogspot.com/2014/09/mika-or-mita.html
Tip #12: Idiomaticity, i.e. the natural mode of expression
The excessive use of possessive suffix (e.g. -si), pronouns (e.g. me) and long structures instead of using compound nouns make the text sound foreign and indicate it is translated from English. The suggested translation was “Kerro minulle, mikä internetisi nopeus on”. However, we can omit “minulle” (tell me) and make a compound noun (internetnopeus; internet speed) to make the text sound a more Finnish.
EN: Please let me know what your Internet speed is.
FI: Kerro, mikä internetnopeutesi on.
For further reference, please check: http://webcgi.oulu.fi/oykk/abc/kielenhuolto/oikeinkirjoitus/yhteen_vai_erikseen/yhdyssanat_ja_sanaliitot/ and https://www.kielikello.fi/-/yhdyssanat for compound nouns.
Tip #13: Register
If the register needs to be formal, e.g. plural ‘you’ (‘te’) should be used instead of singular ‘you’ (‘sinä’), then the possessive suffix should also indicate the same form. Singular ‘you’ in Finnish is ‘sinä’, and the possessive suffix it requires is -si. Plural ‘you’ in Finnish is ‘te’, and the possessive suffix it requires is -nne.
EN: I would like to inform you that you have the lifetime map and services updates on your TomTom.
FI: Haluaisin kertoa teille, että teillä on elinikäiset kartta- ja palvelupäivitykset TomTomissanne.
For further reference, please check: http://www.uusikielemme.fi/possessivesuffixes.html
Tip #14: Punctuation
There should be a space on both sides of the dash only if the entities consist of more than two words: e.g. olla naimisissa / olla eronnut (to be married / divorced) versus naimissa/eronnut (married/divorced).
EN: The errors are all pointing towards an unreliable Internet connection and/or an aggressive security system on the computer.
FI: Kaikki virheet viittaavat epäluotettavaan internetyhteyteen ja/tai aggressiiviseen tietokoneen tietoturvajärjestelmään.
For further reference, please check: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/haku/vinoviiva/ohje/1