Learn how to complain at a restaurant using the essive and translative case
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FinnishPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 18 - Making a Complaint in Finnish. Eric here. |
| Päivi: Hei! I'm Päivi. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to complain about the service or quality at a restaurant using the essive and the translative case. The conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Päivi: It's between Jukka and an employee. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they will use both formal and informal Finnish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jukka: Anteeksi, tarjoilija! |
| Työntekijä: Aivan, miten voin auttaa? |
| Jukka: Tilasin tämän omenapiirakan lämpimänä. Tämä on aivan liian viileä. |
| Työntekijä: Ai niinkö.. pahoittelen. Vaihdan sen teille uudeksi annokseksi. |
| Jukka: Minulle riittäisi kyllä, jos vain lämmitätte sen. |
| Työntekijä: Vaniljakastike on kuitenkin parempaa viileänä, ja menisi lämmittämisestä rakeiseksi. |
| Jukka: Ahaa. No, selvä on. |
| : ... |
| Työntekijä: Kas näin, tässä uusi pala omenapiirakkaa uunituoreena. |
| Jukka: Kiitos! |
| Työntekijä: Ja erehdyksemme vuoksi tarjoamme piirakan ilmaiseksi. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Jukka: Excuse me, waiter! |
| Employee: Right, how can I help you? |
| Jukka: I ordered this apple pie as warm. This is way too cold. |
| Employee: Oh really... My apologies. I will change it to a new portion for you. |
| Jukka: It would be enough for me if you just re-heat it. |
| Employee: But the vanilla sauce is, however, better when it's cold, and it would turn grainy from the heating. |
| Jukka: Oh. Well, okay then. |
| : ... |
| Employee: Here you go, a new piece of apple pie fresh from the oven. |
| Jukka: Thank you! |
| Employee: And due to our error, we are offering this pie free of charge. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Päivi, it’s well known that eating seasonal food is good not only for your wallet, but also for the environment? Is the Finnish diet related to seasons? |
| Päivi: There are four very distinct seasons in Finland, and therefore also seasonal ingredients and dishes. |
| Eric: For example, what are some spring vegetables? |
| Päivi: In the spring, after the snow has melted and all of the plants are starting their growing season, the first seasonal vegetables are things like nettle, radish, and rhubarb. False morels are also valued as a special delicacy, although you have to take extra care when preparing them, as they are highly poisonous if you don’t process them correctly. |
| Eric: What can we find on Finnish tables in the summer? |
| Päivi: Potatoes are the most delicious in summertime, when they are fresh and new. Summer is also the best time for other herbs, salads, vegetables and especially delicious strawberries. Another summer delight from the sea is crayfish! |
| Eric: I suppose that autumn brings delicious fruit in Finland too... |
| Päivi: Forests and bogs offer many kinds of berries and mushrooms, such as boletes. One interesting thing in Finland is the so called jokamiehenoikeus, |
| Eric: which means ”everyman’s right.” |
| Päivi: This right allows everyone to pick berries and mushrooms from the forests for free, without limitations. |
| Eric: I also heard that in Northern Europe, it is common to eat reindeer. |
| Päivi: Right, reindeer meat is very popular, and can be considered game as the reindeers roam freely, although they are the property of reindeer grazing associations. |
| Eric: And finally what can we eat in winter? |
| Päivi: Winter is a time for root vegetables, potatoes, and dried beans and peas, as they will stay good throughout the winter when they’re kept in cool places. Also, many preserved food items, such as jams and pickles are eaten. Finally, keep in mind that freshwater fish can be fished throughout the year, even during the winter. It’s a common sight to see fishermen doing ice fishing over frozen lakes in the winter. |
| Eric: Make sure to try out some of these foods when you go to Finland, listeners! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Päivi: tarjoilija [natural native speed] |
| Eric: waiter |
| Päivi: tarjoilija[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: tarjoilija [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: lämmin [natural native speed] |
| Eric: warm |
| Päivi: lämmin[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: lämmin [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: viileä [natural native speed] |
| Eric: cold, cool |
| Päivi: viileä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: viileä [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: pahoitella [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to apologize, to regret |
| Päivi: pahoitella[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: pahoitella [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: annos [natural native speed] |
| Eric: portion, dish, dose |
| Päivi: annos[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: annos [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: riittää [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to be enough |
| Päivi: riittää[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: riittää [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: rakeinen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: grainy |
| Päivi: rakeinen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: rakeinen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: uunituore [natural native speed] |
| Eric: fresh from the oven, red-hot |
| Päivi: uunituore[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: uunituore [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Päivi: tarjota [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to offer |
| Päivi: tarjota[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: tarjota [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Päivi: ilmainen [natural native speed] |
| Eric: free, free of charge |
| Päivi: ilmainen[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Päivi: ilmainen [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Päivi: omenapiirakka |
| Eric: meaning "apple pie." |
| Päivi: The noun omena means "apple" and the noun piirakka is "pie." |
| Eric:Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Päivi: Sure. For example, you can say.. Huomenna leivon herkullista omenapiirakkaa. |
| Eric: ..which means "Tomorrow I shall bake some delicious apple pie." |
| Päivi: When you want to refer to another kind of pie, you can replace omena, "apple," with another noun. For example mustikkapiirakka, "blueberry pie." If you want to say cake, you should use the word kakku instead. |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Päivi: kas näin |
| Eric: meaning "here you go, like this." |
| Päivi: The interjection kas, has a similar meaning to "oh," "well," or "why" and the adverb näin means "like this." |
| Eric: You can use this phrase when you’re giving something to someone who has been expecting it, or when showing someone how to do something. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Päivi: Sure. For example, you can say Kas näin, omenapiirakka on valmis. |
| Eric: .. which means "And like this, the apple pie is ready." |
| Päivi: Please keep in mind that even if kas näin is a nice alternative, it’s often better to use the more common phrase ole hyvä or olkaa hyvä meaning "here you go" or "you're welcome,” instead. |
| Eric: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Päivi: uunituore |
| Eric: meaning "fresh from the oven, red-hot." |
| Päivi: The noun uuni is for "oven," and the noun tuore is for "fresh." |
| Eric: You can use this word to express that a food item is freshly made, and perhaps also still warm or hot. This word is used for edible products that are heated up when preparing them, and most usually for products that are prepared in an oven. |
| Päivi: Right. For other kinds of dishes, you can use simply the word tuore meaning "fresh," or the phrases juuri tehty or juuri valmistettu meaning "just made." |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using the first word? |
| Päivi: Sure. For example, you can say.. Kissa söi uunituoreen piirakan kokonaan. |
| Eric: .. which means "The cat ate the whole red-hot pie." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to complain about the service or quality at a restaurant using the essive and the translative cases. Unfortunately, sometimes you may encounter situations where you have to make a complaint and demand compensation. |
| Päivi: In a restaurant environment, it’s useful to know certain expressions and adjectives in order to do that. For example, in our lesson Jukka was not happy with the apple pie he received, as it was too cold. He said Tilasin tämän omenapiirakan lämpimänä. Tämä on aivan liian viileä. |
| Eric: which means “I ordered this apple pie as warm. This is way too cold.” |
| Päivi: He used the essiivi, “essive case,” and the translatiivi, “translative case” in this sentence. |
| Eric: We will learn how to use these two cases later. For now, Päivi will give us some useful expressions for making complaints. |
| Päivi: First to be polite, you should always start your sentence with anteeksi, meaning “excuse me.” |
| Eric: After that, you can make the complaint, such as... |
| Päivi: Ruokani on raakaa. |
| Eric: “My food is raw or uncooked.” |
| Päivi: Tämä on ylikypsää. |
| Eric: “This is over-done.” |
| Päivi: Tämä on likainen. |
| Eric: “This is dirty.” Ok, now let’s go back to the cases. |
| Päivi: The grammatical case called “essive” answers the questions “as what?”, “how?” and “when?” |
| Eric: In a restaurant you could use this case, for example, when explaining how you would like to receive your food. |
| Päivi: For example, Haluaisin pihvini puolikypsänä. |
| Eric: “I would like to have my steak medium-rare.” |
| Päivi: Tilasin kolme kahvia mustana. |
| Eric: “I ordered three black coffees.” Literally, “I ordered three coffees as black.” |
| Päivi: You form the essive case by adding the ending -na or -nä to the vowel-ending stem of the word. Like with the illative case, we use the strong stem with the essive case. For example lapsi, which means “child,” in the essive case becomes lapse-na. Kukka, which means “flower,” in the essive case becomes kukka-na. |
| Eric: Listeners, in the lesson notes you can find a more complete list. Let’s now focus on the usage. There are three main cases. |
| Päivi: In the first case, it answers the question “as what?” and expresses the role or the position of the subject or the object in a sentence. For example, Hän on kokkina suuressa ravintolassa. |
| Eric: which means “He works as a chef in a big restaurant.” |
| Päivi: The second case is to express the opinion of the speaker. For example, Minä pidän häntä mukavana ihmisenä. |
| Eric: “I consider him as a nice person.” Or, more simply, “I think he’s a nice person.” |
| Päivi: In the last case, it expresses time. For example, Olen syntynyt vuonna 1970. |
| Eric: meaning “I was born in the year 1970.” |
| Päivi: In the dialogue, we had uunituoreena, which means “as fresh from the oven.” |
| Eric: This adjective expresses the quality of the apple pie, how it is. Ok, now let’s move on to the translative. |
| Päivi: The translative case answers the questions "to what?," "to what kind?," "to which?," "to who?," or "for how long a time?" and expresses what the subject or object is changing to or has changed to. The translative case is formed by adding the -ksi ending to the stem of the word. For example mies, meaning “man,” becomes mieheksi. |
| Eric: Listeners, in the lesson notes you can find a more complete list. |
| Päivi: You can use the translative when you want to express “to what” or “to what kind” the subject or the object is changing to or has changed to. For example, Voitko vaihtaa tämän annoksen uudeksi? |
| Eric: “Can you exchange this portion for a new one?” |
| Päivi: Another case is when you are using the verbs like luulla, tuntea, or sanoa. |
| Eric: Meaning “To think,” “to feel,” and “to say,” respectively. |
| Päivi: for example, Luulin tätä annosta pienemmäksi. |
| Eric: “I thought this portion was smaller.” |
| Päivi: Tunsin itseni vanhaksi. |
| Eric: “I felt old.” |
| Päivi: You can use the translative to express time, as in Lähdin ulkomaille kahdeksi kuukaudeksi. |
| Eric: “I went abroad for two months.” |
| Päivi: Finally, it’s used when you want to express what language something is in, for example Kirjoitin keittokirjan englanniksi. |
| Eric: “I wrote a cook book in English.” |
| Päivi: In the dialogue, the translative was used in the sentence Vaihdan sen teille uudeksi annokseksi. |
| Eric: Which means “I will change it to a new portion for you.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Päivi: Hei hei! |
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