# tämä / hän



## Gavril

Heippa hei,

I don't quite understand why _tämä_ is used in this context (from a crime report in the newspaper) nstead of _hän_:



> Mies raahasi naisen autoonsa. Mies on kertonut olleensa paniikissa. Myöhemmin *tämä* ajoi poliisin mukaan autollaan vanhan öljysataman rannalle, missä väkivalta jatkui.



Here, _tämä_ seems to refer to the man (_mies_) who is the subject of the two previous sentences. I would have expected _tämä_ to be used if he were the object of the previous sentence, but since the subject is the same as that of the previous sentence, why didn't the writer use _hän_? Would that have given a slightly different tone to the sentence?

Kiitos äidinkielituntemuksestanne


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> Heippa hei,
> 
> I don't quite understand why _tämä_ is used in this context (from a crime report in the newspaper) instead of _hän_:


Nor do I. I would have used _hän._


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## Maabdreo

> I would have expected _tämä _to be used if he were the object of the previous sentence



I didn't know that was done either!


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## Gavril

Maabdreo said:


> I didn't know that was done either!



Yes, for example,

_Kun Petteri antoi kupin sokeria *Rikulle*, *tämä* sanoi "Kiitoksia paljon!"_

"When Petteri gave *Riku* a cup of sugar, *he* said 'Thanks a lot!'"


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## Ben Jamin

Gavril said:


> Yes, for example,
> 
> _Kun Petteri antoi kupin sokeria *Rikulle*, *tämä* sanoi "Kiitoksia paljon!"_
> 
> "When Petteri gave *Riku* a cup of sugar, *he* said 'Thanks a lot!'"


Is this a rule described in grammar books?


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## Gavril

Ben Jamin said:


> Is this a rule described in grammar books?



Yes: for example, it's mentioned in this section of the reference grammar _Iso Suomen Kielioppi_. The relevant quote from that page is:



> Persoonapronomini _hän_ ~ _he_ on kuitenkin yleensä samaviitteinen etualaisena olevan lausekkeen kanssa. Etualaisuus voi tarkoittaa saman tai hallitsevan lauseen subjektin asemaa tai muuta teemapaikkaisuutta [...] Jos kaksi tarkoitetta on yhtä aikaa jatkuvia, taka-alaiseen niistä voidaan viitata pronominilla _tämä_ ~ _nämä_[.]



My translation:

"The personal pronoun _hän_ ~ _he_ is, however, generally co-referential with the foreground [noun] phrase. "Foreground" can mean that the noun phrase is the subject of the same or governing clause, or otherwise in topic position. [...] If two referents are continuous at the same time, the one that is less foregrounded [_taka-alainen_ = "background"] can be referred to with the pronoun _tämä_ ~ _nämä_."

Here is one of the example sentences given to illustrate this pattern:



> Omaiset olivat tulleet saattamaan lähtijöitä ja vilkuttivat näille kyyneleet silmissä.



"Relatives had come to see off the people who were departing, and they waved to them with tears in their eyes."

Here, the pronoun _näille_ (a plural form of_ tämä_) refers back to the object of the previous clause (_lähtijöitä_), rather than the subject of the clause (_omaiset_).


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## etrade

Gavril said:


> Yes, for example,
> 
> _Kun Petteri antoi kupin sokeria *Rikulle*, *tämä* sanoi "Kiitoksia paljon!"_
> 
> "When Petteri gave *Riku* a cup of sugar, *he* said 'Thanks a lot!'"




I would use "hän". Colloquial speech "tämä" is Ok if you don't mean that cup of sugar can speak.


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## Gavril

etrade said:


> I would use "hän". Colloquial speech "tämä" is Ok if you don't mean that cup of sugar can speak.



Right, it is not an absolute rule that you have to use _tämä_ in this case (the paragraph I quoted uses words like "can" and "generally" to describe this pattern). But, I'm pretty sure that _tämä _does not only refer to the direct object of a previous sentence either.

For example, here is a sentence I found online where _tämä _refers to an indirect obect:



> Kun Riikka kertoi tästä nukutettuna olleelle Mikollei, tämäi hätääntyi ja alkoi riuhtoen potkia vuoteessaan.



"When Riikka told this to Mikko, who was on anesthetic, he became distressed and began to kick frantically in his bed."


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