# "Too X to Y" / -maan vs -kseen



## Maabdreo

Hi,

Based on various examples on Tatoeba, sentences of the form "[someone/something is] too [adjective] to [verb]," e.g., "you're too young to understand," seem to be translatable two ways:

Olet liian nuori ymmärtämään.
Olet liian nuori ymmärtääksesi.

Is there any difference in how these sound? Is one more common than the other? There seem to be more examples that use the -ma infinitive. 

Kiitos


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## Hakro

Basically they have the same meaning but I think that they are used in somehow different contexts. For example I'd say:
"Olet liian nuori ajamaan autoa." You are too young, you are not allowed to drive a car.
"Olet liian vanha tekemään pitkiä työpäiviä." You are too old, you shouldn't work long days.
"Olemme liian nuoria ymmärtääksemme sormuksen merkityksen." (They say that) we're too young to know the meaning of a ring...
"Olen liian vanha ymmärtääkseni nykyistä slangia." I'm too old, I won't understand the modern slang.
These are only examples how I would use these two forms, but using them the other way round wouldn't be false at all.

I'm afraid this didn't help you much.


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## Maabdreo

Thanks, Hakro. In the examples you gave, the ones with -maan seem to be used to say that the action (like driving a car) is discouraged, whereas the ones with -kseen seem to be used to say that the person is incapable of the action (like understanding modern slang). What do you think?


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## Hakro

Maabdreo said:


> What do you think?


I agree but this is only my opinion. Other Finns may have different ideas.


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