jos + Conditional

Unreal Conditions

Level 3

The jos + conditional pattern is used for 'what if' scenarios that are not currently true or are very unlikely. Unlike English, Finnish requires the conditional mood in both parts of the sentence.

How It Works

To express a hypothetical or counterfactual situation, you must use the conditional mood marker -isi- in both the condition (the jos clause) and the consequence (the main clause). Note that the marker -isi- itself is invariant and never changes to "-ysy-", regardless of vowel harmony in the stem.

1. Formation:
The conditional marker -isi- is added to the strong vocalic stem of the verb, followed by the personal endings. Note that the 3rd person singular (hän/se) has no personal ending and ends simply in -isi (e.g., hän antaisi). The 3rd person plural uses the endings -vat/-vät.

  • Stem-final -a/-ä: These vowels are retained and form a diphthong with the marker (e.g., antaa → antaisin, tietää → tietäisin).
  • Stem-final -e, -i: These vowels drop before the marker (e.g., lukea → lukisin, tulla → tulisin).
  • Other vowels (-o, -u, etc.): The final vowel stays (e.g., puhua → puhuisin).
  • Long vowels and diphthongs: The first vowel of a long vowel or diphthong is lost (e.g., saada → saisin, syödä → söisin).
  • Verb Types 3-6: Use the strong vocalic stem (e.g., tavata → tapaisin).

2. Negative Conditional:
To form the negative conditional, use the negative verb followed by the conditional stem (verb stem + -isi) without a personal ending (e.g., minä en sanoisi, he eivät tulisi).

3. Usage Nuances:

  • Hypothetical: Situations that might happen but are unlikely (e.g., winning the lottery).
  • Counterfactual: Situations that are impossible because the opposite is true (e.g., 'If I were you').
  • Past Unreal: To say 'would have', use the perfect tense version: olisin + past participle (e.g., Jos olisin tiennyt...).
  • Politeness: Using conditional for politeness softens requests.

4. Spoken Finnish:
In spoken Finnish, the -isi- marker is often shortened. For example, olisin typically becomes oisin or olis.

Examples (4)

  1. Jos voittaisin lotossa, ostaisin uuden auton.

    If I won the lottery, I would buy a new car.

    Word by Word: If I-would-win in-lottery, I-would-buy new car.

    A classic hypothetical situation. Both 'voittaa' and 'ostaa' take the -isi- marker.

  2. Jos olisin sinä, en tekisi sitä.

    If I were you, I wouldn't do that.

    Word by Word: If I-would-be you, not I-would-do that.

    A counterfactual situation (I am not you). Note the negative conditional 'en tekisi'.

  3. Mitä tekisit, jos sinulla olisi vapaapäivä?

    What would you do if you had a day off?

    Word by Word: What you-would-do, if on-you would-be free-day?

    An imaginary scenario. The possessive structure also uses the conditional 'olisi'.

  4. Olisin iloinen, jos tulisit juhliin.

    I would be glad if you came to the party.

    Word by Word: I-would-be glad, if you-would-come to-party.

    Used here for politeness to make the invitation sound softer.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the indicative (present tense) in the 'jos' clause.

    Jos minulla on aikaa, matkustaisin Lappiin.
    Jos minulla olisi aikaa, matkustaisin Lappiin.

    For a hypothetical situation, use the conditional in both parts: Jos minulla olisi aikaa, matkustaisin Lappiin. For a real, open condition, use the indicative in both: Jos minulla on aikaa, matkustan Lappiin. The mixed sentence in the example sounds unusual.

  • Using 'jos' to mean 'whether' in indirect questions.

    En tiedä, jos hän tulee.
    En tiedä, tuleeko hän.

    In standard Finnish, 'whether' in an indirect question is the -ko/-kö clitic: tuleeko hän. 'Jos' meaning 'whether' is heard in speech, but in writing it mostly means 'if'.

How It Connects

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jos + ConditionalLevel 3Unreal Conditions

Learn This First

To express unreal or imaginary conditions in Finnish, you need to combine the conjunction 'jos' with verbs conjugated in the conditional mood (-isi-). This requires knowledge of how to form the conditional stem and how to apply standard personal endings to it.

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Words in This Pattern

jos-isi-