# elämä on...



## tbsvk

Hello. Found this forum today and I will be grateful if someone could explain me some things about Finnish language.
The first question, there is a phrase in local language, when for example, someone asks another "Why you seem so sad ?", the answer could be "such is [my] life", meaning "there are a lot of things in my life that make me sad, but I have no time/wish etc to talk about it".
I thought the Finnish equivalent for this answer could be "elämä on semmoinen/sellainen", but after googling it seems to be that "elämä on semmoista" is much wider used (in songs etc). But it seems for me, that "elämä on semmoista" is have a bit another meaning, say "[not someone's special] life has a lot of things that happen[ed]" or something. Am I right ?


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## Grumpy Old Man

"Semmoista" is informal but otherwise all right. I never use it. I would say: _Elämä on sellaista. / Sellaista elämä on._


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## Finland

Hello!



Grumpy Old Man said:


> I would say: _Elämä on sellaista. / Sellaista elämä on.
> _



Another common variation in spoken language that could be fitting for the context tbsvk was referring to could be "Sellaista _se_ elämä on." Or, if someone has just asked you why you are so sad, you can make the answer more explanatory by adding "vain" (or "vaan" in colloquial): "Sellaista se elämä vaan on."

HTH

S


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## tbsvk

So... "Elämä on semmoinen" is not in use... OK, partitiivi is my endless pain. Probably I've listen Samuli Putro's song "Elämä on juhla" for too long, and thus decided that these two constructions (..juhla.. and ...semmoinen..) have something common...


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## Finland

Hello!



tbsvk said:


> So... "Elämä on semmoinen" is not in use... OK, partitiivi is my endless pain. Probably I've listen Samuli Putro's song "Elämä on juhla" for too long, and thus decided that these two constructions (..juhla.. and ...semmoinen..) have something common...



"Elämä on semmoinen/sellainen" is not gramatically incorrect, it is just difficult to try to think of a context where it would be used. A Finnish native would expect the phrase to go on somehow, for example "elämä on sellainen asia, ettei sitä osaa selittää sanoin" or something. As an independent sentence "Elämä on sellainen" is unnatural, although not outright ungrammatical. As regards "Elämä on juhla", it is more or less a play on words, referring to "elämä on (yhtä) juhlaa", as the saying goes. When you say "Elämä on juhla", it is a bit surprising for a Finn, because it implies that life is ONE party, i.e. you are invited, you arrive and party for awhile and then leave. Whereas the more common and neutral way of saying it "Elämä on juhlaa" means that living is like partying. I think in Turkish the only way I can come up with trying to explain the difference would be:
Elämä on juhlaa: yaşamak parti etmek gibi (olması lazım)
Elämä on juhla: hayat bir parti(dir).

HTH

S


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## Gavril

Could you also use a phrase with the verb _mennä_ to express the same meaning?

For ex.,

_Näin/sellaista meno on.

Näin (se) menee.
_


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Could you also use a phrase with the verb _mennä_ to express the same meaning?
> 
> For ex.,
> 
> _Näin__/sellaista__ meno on.
> 
> Näin se menee. _(No parentheses, "se" is necessary here.)


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