# to do well



## Gavril

How would you translate _do well_ in the following sentences? :

_He did well on the test.

They did very well with their business. _(_Onnistuivat/menestyivät_ _liikkeessään_?)

_The company is doing very well. _(_Yhtiö pärjää_/_onnistuu/menestyy_ _hyvin_?)
_
He's doing pretty well _(_in general_).

K


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## sakvaka

Gavril said:


> How would you translate _do well_ in the following sentences? :
> 
> _He did well on the test.
> 
> They did very well with their business. _(_Onnistuivat/menestyivät_ _liikkeessään_?)
> 
> _The company is doing very well. _(_Yhtiö pärjää_/_onnistuu/menestyy_ _hyvin_?)
> _
> He's doing pretty well _(_in general_).
> 
> K



I'd use the word _menestyä_:

_Hän menestyi kokeessa.
He menestyivät yrityksessään/liikkeessään (heidän yrityksensä menestyi).
Yhtiö menestyy (yhtiöllä menee) hyvin.
Hänellä menee aika hyvin.

_


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## sakvaka

I'd make the difference as follows.

_onnistua_ = succeed
- to do well in something planned
- _Hän onnistui suututtamaan minut_. He succeeded in making me mad.

_pärjätä_ = try to make it well
- succeeding comes maybe as a surprise
- s/he had a good luck
- _Hän pärjäsi kokeessa hyvin, vaikkei lukenutkaan yhtään. _He did well in the exam, although he didn't read [for it] at all.

_menestyä_ = be succesful (prosper)
- emphasizes the skills
- is a bit literal - _pärjätä _often replaces this
- _Yritys menestyi loistavasti ahkerien työntekijöidensä ansiosta._ The company did perfectly well thanks to its industrious workers.

_ADESSIVE + mennä + hyvin_ = to be doing well
------
Mutta tämäkään ei ole kirkossa kuulutettua 
_"But this isn't announced in the church, either"_
= this may not be the absolute truth


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## Gavril

sakvaka said:


> I'd make the difference as follows.
> 
> _onnistua_ = succeed
> - to do well in something planned
> - _Hän onnistui suututtamaan minut_. He succeeded in making me mad.
> 
> _pärjätä_ = try to make it well
> - succeeding comes maybe as a surprise
> - s/he had a good luck
> - _Hän pärjäsi kokeessa hyvin, vaikkei lukenutkaan yhtään. _He did well in the exam, although he didn't read [for it] at all.
> 
> _menestyä_ = be succesful (prosper)
> - emphasizes the skills
> - is a bit literal - _pärjätä _often replaces this
> - _Yritys menestyi loistavasti ahkerien työntekijöidensä ansiosta._ The company did perfectly well thanks to its industrious workers.



Just a note on English: the word _perfectly, _in the above sentence, suggests an expectation that the company was not going to do well (similar to what you said about _pärjätä_ above). Edellytettäänkö tämä suomen _loistavasti-_sanallakin?


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## sakvaka

Gavril said:


> Just a note on English: the word _perfectly, _in the above sentence, suggests an expectation that the company was not going to do well (similar to what you said about _pärjätä_ above). Edellyte*t*äänkö tä*t*ä suomen _loistavasti-_sanal*t*akin? (ablative case)



Really? That's quite interesting. 

Ei edellytetä. _Loistavasti_-sanaan ei liity samanlaista taka-ajatusta.


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## meccänkadai

I'd just like to add that 'pärjätä' is a loan word from swedish word 'bärja' and if I'm right it is only used in speech (but can be found from the newspapers today). Well today it can be used but still in Finnish mother tongue essays one is not allowed to use that particular word because it is a loan word. But it is pretty well integrated to the Finnish language so feel free to use it. A similar word 'pruukata' is a swedish loan word (bruka=olla tapana) and thus many Finns don't know the meaning of it this might give a clue how 'badly' 'pärjätä' fits (or at least should) in a writing.


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## Gavril

meccänkadai said:


> I'd just like to add that 'pärjätä' is a loan word from swedish word 'bärja' and if I'm right it is only used in speech (but can be found from the newspapers today). Well today it can be used but still in Finnish mother tongue essays one is not allowed to use that particular word because it is a loan word.



What do you mean by "Finnish mother tongue essays"?


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## Nooku

I believe "Finnish mother tongue essays" refers to essays written in school in Finnish (for native or very fluent speakers), where grammar and fluent writing skills are evaluated.

I didn't know "pärjätä" is a loan word, and I would use it freely also in more official texts. (And I at least used to be quite successful in school with these "Finnish mother tongue essays" discussed above!)


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## sakvaka

Nooku said:


> I believe "Finnish mother tongue essays" refers to essays written in school in Finnish (for native or very fluent speakers), where grammar and fluent writing skills are evaluated.
> 
> I didn't know "pärjätä" is a loan word, and I would use it freely also in more official texts. (And I at least used to be quite successful in school with these "Finnish mother tongue essays" discussed above!)



Neither did I, so would I and so was I. 

As meccänkadai points out, _pärjätä_ "is a loan word", and it's "pretty well integrated to the Finnish language". I also think it can be used somewhat freely in Finnish texts. Of course, if you were writing a letter to the president or someone else valuable person, you would never use _pärjätä_ but replace it with a more respectful saying.

And by the way, _ruukata_ is often spelt without the _p_. But that word seems odder than _pärjätä_ in standard texts.


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## Hakro

meccänkadai said:


> I'd just like to add that 'pärjätä' is a loan word from swedish word 'bärja' and if I'm right it is only used in speech (but can be found from the newspapers today).


Strictly speaking, the Swedish word is "bär*g*a".

bärga = pelastaa, korjata talteen, koota säästöön
bärga sig = tulla toimeen, saada elantonsa

Older people who speak the original dialect of Rauma use the word _pärjätä _only in the first meaning above.


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