# "may as well, might as well"



## akana

Is there a way to express something similar to "might as well" in a context such as the following:

"You might as well surrender. The house is surrounded."

Typically, "might as well" expresses that there is no other alternative, or that the other alternatives are so undesirable that the one being suggested is the only sensible one.

Kiitos!


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## Hakro

I think that "sinun olisi parasta..." would be a suitable expression. There's a slight difference compared to "sinun olisi parempi..." (you'd better...).


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## sakvaka

At least in spoken language the expression _Sama vaikka..._ is often used.

Eg.
_Meillä ei ole enää töitä tälle päivälle. Sama vaikka lähtis* nyt kotiin!
__Sama vaikka antautuisit; talo on piiritetty!

* = lähtisi_


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## Hakro

sakvaka said:


> _Sama vaikka antautuisit; talo on piiritetty!_


Do you think that the police would use this kind of phrase in this situation? I doubt it.

Your first example is very typical in spoken language but only in spoken language.


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## kirahvi

I don't think the police would use such a construction to being with. They'd simply say "surrender" rather than "you may as well surrender".

Sakvaka's second example is something a hostage could very well say to the captor, but it'd sound weird if the police said something like that.


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## sakvaka

No one was talking about the police, Hakro and kirahvi, although I agree with both of you.

However, if akana originally meant the phrase as something that a police officer would say, I'd stick to _Antaudu suosiolla. Talo on piiritetty!_


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## Hakro

sakvaka said:


> However, if akana originally meant the phrase as something that a police officer would say, I'd stick to _Antaudu suosiolla. Talo on piiritetty!_


Agreed!


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## akana

I suppose it was a rather specific example, but with a vague context. Myself, I was picturing it as something a hostage would say to a captor. In any case, all of these answers are helpful. 

In English, sometimes we'll say "may as well" as a response all by itself. For example:
"Well, everybody's gone home. You want to leave too?"
"We may as well."

The implication being: "Yes, there's really no point in staying."

Would a Finn use "sama vaikka" in such a context?

_No, kaikki on lähtenyt kotiin. Tahdotko sinäkin lähteä?

Sama vaikka._



Hakro said:


> I think that "sinun olisi parasta..." would be a suitable expression. There's a slight difference compared to "sinun olisi parempi..." (you'd better...).



Hakro, would it be correct to say "sinun olisi paras" without the partitive? I noticed there are few to no google hits for "sinun olisi parempaa".


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## Hakro

akana said:


> Hakro, would it be correct to say "sinun olisi paras" without the partitive? I noticed there are few to no google hits for "sinun olisi parempaa".


Both nominative and partitive (paras/parasta) are possible and there's no difference between them. Instead, for the phrase "sinun olisi parempi" the partitive is not possible, I don't know why.


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