# exit or entrance (on a highway/motorway)



## Gavril

Hyvää sunnuntaita,

What term is used for the *exit *and *entrance *on a highway (or motorway, as British English speakers call it)? 

For example,

_
Drive about 5 miles on Highway 1, then get off the highway at Exit 15.

Drive along Main Street until you see the "Highway Entrance" sign.

_
WSOY provides _uloskäynti_ and _ulosajotie_ as translations of "exit" and _sisäänkäynti_ for "entrance", but it doesn't clarify where each term can be used: i.e., I know that _sisäänkäynti_ and _uloskäynti_ are used for doors or passageways that you walk through to get in or out of a room/building, but I don't know if they are used for roads that you drive on.

Also, most Google results for _ulosajotie_ seem to be translations from another language into Finnish, so they don't make me very confident about using this term.

Kiitos


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## DrWatson

I would use _liittymä_ for both, _eritasoliittymä_ is also possible.


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## Gavril

DrWatson said:


> I would use _liittymä_ for both, _eritasoliittymä_ is also possible.



Ah, thanks. I tried searching for directions to a random location on the Finnish version of Google Maps, and the term _liittymä_ appeared there as well, but I thought this might be yet another awkward translation. 

If you wanted to explain how to get onto the nearest _valtatie_, or where to get off the _valtatie_ to reach your destination, how would you use _liittymä_ in your sentence?

Kiitoksia paljon


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## Hakro

As Doctor said, _liittymä_ is the correct term both for Entrance and Exit.

I wouldn't use _ulosajotie_ because _ulosajo_ in normal speach means "driving out of the road" (losing control of the car).

The colloquial term for the entrance and exit of a motorway is _ramppi._

If I remember correctly, my navigator says _aja poistumiskaistalle_ for driving to the exit, and _aja moottoritielle_ for driving to the entrance. If you have to explain yourself how to get onto the motorway, you should say _aja liittymästä / rampista moottoritielle_.

_Valtatie_ means any main road but not exactly a (four-lane) motorway. As far as I know, in AE "highway" can mean either a two-lane main road or a four-lane (six-lane etc.) road where walking, cycling etc. are not permitted.


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> As Doctor said, _liittymä_ is the correct term both for Entrance and Exit.



Do the entrances or exits to the _valtatiet _have specific names/numbers in Finland? (E.g., "liittymä 15")

In  the United States, every exit on our Interstate Highway system has a  number assigned to it, though I don't think this is true of entrances.



> Valtatie means any main road but not exactly a (four-lane)  motorway. As far as I know, in AE "highway" can mean either a two-lane  main road or a four-lane (six-lane etc.) road where walking, cycling  etc. are not permitted.



That's more or less how I understand it. According to one American English dictionary (Random House), a highway is "a main road, especially one between towns or cities". 

This   thread is bringing up some big differences between American English and  British English road terminology. Finnish-English dictionaries tend to  lean towards the British English side, which is probably why I had  trouble looking up "exit"/"entrance": apparently, these terms are not  used in  the same way in the UK, or not as frequently.


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Do the entrances or exits to the _valtatiet _have specific names/numbers in Finland? (E.g., "liittymä 15")
> 
> In  the United States, every exit on our Interstate Highway system has a  number assigned to it, though I don't think this is true of entrances.


Yes, in Finland the motorway exits have numbers, the entrances have not. On the Helsinki–Turku motorway also the tunnels have numbers and a letter, either H or T.


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> Yes, in Finland the motorway exits have numbers, the entrances have not. On the Helsinki–Turku motorway also the tunnels have numbers and a letter, either H or T.



So what would be the full name of Exit 15 on Valtatie 10? E.g., would it be "Valtatie 10:n liittymä 15"?


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> So what would be the full name of Exit 15 on Valtatie 10? E.g., would it be "Valtatie 10:n liittymä 15"?


Exactly so, or possibly "Valtatie 10:n liittymä nro 15".


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## Spongiformi

Gavril said:


> So what would be the full name of Exit 15 on  Valtatie 10? E.g., would it be "Valtatie 10:n liittymä 15"?



Technically yes, although I'm far from sure Valtatie 10 has Exit 15, or any numbered exits as for that matter. It's not exactly a huge road.

Like Hakro was saying up there, you should be careful with the word "_valtatie_" as it doesn't tell overly much about the construction of the road. _Valtatie__t_  is the network of main roads connecting bigger cities and towns in  Finland, but only a tiny part of the network is composed of motorways.  The higher quality highway with the entrance and exit ramps and four  lanes in total is called a motorway (_moottoritie_) in Finland, and only those have the numbered exits. The rest of the _valtatie_  network is just regular roads (usually with only a single lane in both  directions), perhaps a bit straighter and better maintained than the  bulk of roads, with traditional intersections/roundabouts or traffic  circles. Most of the motorways are in the south, connecting the bigger  cities (Finnish bigger, anyway), some stretches of them are elsewhere in  the country.


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## Gavril

Spongiformi said:


> Like Hakro was saying up there, you should be careful with the word "_valtatie_" as it doesn't tell overly much about the construction of the road. _Valtatie__t_  is the network of main roads connecting bigger cities and towns in  Finland, but only a tiny part of the network is composed of motorways.  The higher quality highway with the entrance and exit ramps and four  lanes in total is called a motorway (_moottoritie_) in Finland, and only those have the numbered exits. The rest of the _valtatie_  network is just regular roads (usually with only a single lane in both  directions), perhaps a bit straighter and better maintained than the  bulk of roads, with traditional intersections/roundabouts or traffic  circles. Most of the motorways are in the south, connecting the bigger  cities (Finnish bigger, anyway), some stretches of them are elsewhere in  the country.



I think my problem is that I tend to associate _valtatie_ with the word _highway_ (that is how WSOY translates _valtatie_), and a large number of United States highways closely fit your description of a _moottoritie_ (exits/entrances, little or no intersections, usually four lanes).

Again, if I was a British English speaker, we probably wouldn't be having this confusion.  Europe seems to have a more standardized conception of the kind of road that _moottoritie_ refers to (British _motorway_, German _Autobahn_, Italian _autostrada_, etc.).


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> I think my problem is that I tend to associate _valtatie_ with the word _highway_ (that is how WSOY translates _valtatie_), and a large number of United States highways closely fit your description of a _moottoritie_ (exits/entrances, little or no intersections, usually four lanes).
> 
> Again, if I was a British English speaker, we probably wouldn't be having this confusion.  Europe seems to have a more standardized conception of the kind of road that _moottoritie_ refers to (British _motorway_, German _Autobahn_, Italian _autostrada_, etc.).


I have to correct my own statement: also motorways are officially called _valtatie_. For example, the Helsinki–Turku motorway is officially VT1 (valtatie 1). But every _valtatie_ is not a motorway, or there's only a short part with four lanes.


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