The following description shows the settings in Word 2013, in the order they appear in the Grammar Settings window. For each option, the description contains
The name of an option normally presents an error or style feature that will be reported if detected, but some of them just name the type of checks made.
Irrallinen sivulause
Isolated subclause
(Tiukka)
The checks are rather limited and catch only some types of subclauses (such as jos clauses) used as sentences. Such use of subclauses is not accepted in formal prose, but they often appear in casual style. If you see what I mean.
Pääverbi puuttuu
Main verb is missing
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This means that a clause lacks a predicate. Such issues are not always reported even if this option is selected, because Word often classifies an expression as a name for something (e.g. Seitsemän veljestä) and as acceptable in a heading or caption. It tends to report the issue when there is something in the text that suggests that it was meant to be a sentence but isn’t (e.g. Seitsemän veljestä iloisesti). Thus, having this option checked means that you may get false alarms about some headings and captions, but it is useful in detecting real errors in text (a verb was unintentionally omitted or misspelled). Sometimes this option causes an incorrect error message, because Word does not recognize the predicate as a verb form but treats it as a noun.
Pääverbien määrä
Number of main verbs [is too large]
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This means that a clause has more than one verb form that is interpreted as a predicate, e.g. Minä kävin vierailin heillä. (Errors like this occur typically when text is edited and you just add a new verb without removing the old one.) The checks often fail to catch issues of this type even when the option is checked.
Tyyli: rinnastuskonjunktiolla alkava virke
Style: a sentence beginning with a co-ordinating conjunction.
(Tiukka)
In formal prose, a sentence should not begin with a conjunction like ja, tai, or mutta. This is a purely stylistic issue.
Kongruenssi: subjektin ja predikaatin mukautuminen
Congruence: adaptation of the subject and the predicate
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This refers to mismatches like Pojat juoksee (instead of Pojat juoksevat), with the subject in plural, predicate in singular. They are common in speech, but substandard in writing.
Kongruenssi: eräitä erikseen huomattavia tapauksia
Congruence: some special issues
(Tiukka, Vapaa)
This refers to specific types of mismatch between a subject and a predicate, such as Kumpikin menivät kotiinsa (instead of the correct Kumpikin meni kotiinsa or Molemmat menivät kotiinsa).
Kongruenssi: sanalla ”ja” tai ”sekä” yhdistetyt subjektit
Congruence: subjects connected with ja or sekä
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This refers to a situation where the subject is plural in meaning, since it consists of two or more parts connected with ja or sekä, but the predicate is incorrectly in singular, e.g. Espoo ja Vantaa on kaupunkeja (the predicate must be ovat, not on).
Kongruenssi: adjektiiviattribuutin taipuminen pääsanan mukaan
Congruence: adaptation of an adjective attribute according to the main word
(Tiukka)
This refers to mismatches in case or number between an adjective and a noun, as in suurissa juhlassa (instead of suuressa juhlassa or suurissa juhlissa). However, this message may be caused by incorrect syntax analysis in Word. For example, the sentence Tiedotamme vanhemmille asiasta (We will inform parents about the matter) triggers it, probably because Word regards vanhemmille as an adjective attribute, not as a noun.
Vertailumuodot
Comparison forms
(Tiukka, Vapaa)
This causes errors like mitä suuremmassa (instead of mitä suurimmassa), using the comparative instead of the superlative, to be detected.
Tyyli: sanan ”kaikista” käyttö superlatiivin yhteydessä
Style: the use of the word kaikista in a superlative context
(Tiukka)
This refers to the common colloquial use of kaikista (of all) as emphasizing a superlative, e.g. kaikista suurin. The accepted alternative is kaikkein, e.g. kaikkein suurin.
Tyyli: liitepartikkelien turha käyttö tai toisto
Style: unnecessary use or repetition of enclitic particles
(Tiukka)
This refers to repeated or redundant use of the kin or kAAn or other word-like suffixes like ko. This option often causes diagnostic messages when such suffixes are close to each other or look redundant due to the presence of a word like myös. This option often helps to detect stylistic problems, but the checks might be too picky; two occurrences of kin in the same clause is seldom a big issue. In particular, Word recommends against the words myöskin and etteikö, but they are now accepted by language authorities.
Konjunktio ”josko” epäsuorassa kysymyslauseessa
The conjunction josko in a subordinate question
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This refers to colloquial use of josko instead of the kO suffix, e.g. En tiedä, josko hän tulee instead of the correct En tiedä, tuleeko hän. According to current rules, josko is accepted, though not in “neutral style”.
Tyyli: ”ja” kieltosanan yhteydessä
Style: ja used with a negation word
(Tiukka)
This refers to the use of ja at the start of a clause that contains the negation verb, e.g. Asia vain on niin, ja ei sille voi mitään instead of the normal Asia vain on niin, eikä sille voi mitään. This is a stylistic issue, and ja ei can be acceptable as a way of emphasizing negation. Word detects simple constructs like ja ei, but e.g. ja sille ei voi mitään passes the check, even though here, too, eikä sille voi mitään is more normal.
Tyyli: paljon sivulauseita
Style: a lot of subclauses
(Tiukka, Normaali)
This generally points out that a sentence contains several subclauses, possibly making the sentence more difficult to read and understand. As a rule, you should reformulate the sentence, typically splitting it to two (or more) sentences. The message may also be caused by subclauses embedded in other subclauses, breaking their flow, rather than the mere number of subclauses.
Verbirakenteet: kieltomuodot
Verb structures: negation forms
(Tiukka, Vapaa)
According to the documentation, this indicates that a negation form is incomplete, e.g. Kirjuri tiennyt laskusta instead of the correct Kirjuri ei tiennyt laskusta. However, such issues seem to be covered by the option Pääverbi puuttuu.
Verbirakenteet: aikamuodot
Verb structures: tenses
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
This refers to errors in the use of composite tenses like the perfect, e.g. Juoksijat ovat tiennyt uusista säännöistä instead of the correct Juoksijat ovat tienneet uusista säännöistä.
Verbirakenteet: muita verbirakenteita
Verb structures: other verb structures
(Tiukka, Vapaa)
This refers to specific issues with the forms required by some verbs. In particular, a construct like alkaa tekemään is flagged as an error if this option is checked. However, the construct is now accepted by language authorities (though this has been heavily debated), as an alternative to the old standard construct alkaa tehdä.
Verbirakenteet: kaksoispassiivi
Verb structures: double passive
(Tiukka, Normaali)
The “double passive” means the use of 4th person form in the auxiliary verb in perfect and pluperfect, e.g. Talot ollaan rakennettu. Such expressions are normal in spoken language but traditionally not accepted in standard language, where you should instead use Talot on rakennettu (The houses have been built). However, modern rules are less strict: negative “double passive” forms such as ei oltu rakennettu are not entirely unsuitable, though forms like ei ollut rakennettu are still recommended.
Verbirakenteet: lienee-muodon käyttö
Verb structures: use of the lienee form
(Tiukka)
Refers to incorrect use of lienen, lienet, lienee etc., the potential forms of the verb olla. For example, Minä lienen tarkoitan sitä (instead of Minä tarkoittanen sitä). However, Word detects only a small part of such issues.
Yhdyssanat
Compound words
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
Refers to some errors where a closed compound is written as an open compound or vice versa. This check does not detect most errors of these kinds, only some expressions like eteen päin instead of eteenpäin. Instead, writing an open compound as closed (e.g. sen tähden as sentähden) usually causes the word to be flagged as misspelled, and Word usually does not suggest the correct spelling. Writing a closed compound as open (e.g. kesäaika as kesä aika) is usually not detected at all. Note: the Autocorrect feature in Word may cause an expression like eteen päin to be corrected to eteenpäin as you type it. Some of the rules in Word 2013 are now outdated. In the following expressions, the second alternative is now accepted, too, but Word flags it as incorrect or autocorrects it: päinvastoin ∼ päin vastoin, itsestään selvä ∼ itsestäänselvä.
Numeroiden tarpeettomat sijapäätteet
Unnecessary case suffixes for numbers
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
This refers to writing a case suffix after a number written with figures, e.g. 7:ssä, in situations where the suffix need not be written, since the case is inferred from the next word, as in 7 tapauksessa. It is somewhat debatable whether 7:ssä tapauksessa is an error; the suffix part :ssä is redundant, but might be regarded as accepted.
Tyyli: arkikielinen tai murteellinen sana
Style: colloquial or dialectal word
(Tiukka)
This refers to words that may be quite suitable for informal texts, such as kiva (nice), but not recommended for formal prose. General opinion and official recommendations on such matters may vary by time. For example, Word does not flag the verb liisata (to lease), but people may still regard it as colloquial (or jargon). Note that there is a separate setting for jargon words (see below). Most colloquial and dialectal words are flagged independently of this setting, as misspelled, because Word does not recognize them at all.
Tyyli: alatyylinen tai halventava sana
Style: vulgar or disparaging word
(Tiukka, Vapaa)
Often this option does not cause even the most vulgar words to be flagged. It is possible that the functionality has been disabled due to being too debatable. It may also depend on version of Word.
Tyyli: ylätyylinen tai vanhahtava sana
Style: exalted or dated word
(Tiukka)
This refers to words that are not used in modern language, except in poetry, in very elevated style, and jocularly, e.g. ylkä instead of the normal-style sulhanen (bridegroom).
Tyyli: slangisana
Style: slang word
(Tiukka)
This refers to words that are unsuitable in formal texts due to being jargon. E.g. orkut (orgasm) is classified as jargon in this context. Most jargon words are flagged independently of this setting, as misspelled, because Word does not recognize them at all. On the other hand, Word treats some jargon words like serveri as normal-style words and does not flag them, no matter what options are set.
Välilyönnit
Spaces
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
This refers to incorrect or redundant use of spaces, such as two spaces between words—a common typing mistake, which is difficult to notice otherwise, since it usually causes just a little extra spacing.
Välimerkit
Punctuation
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
This relates to some use of hyphens, dashes, quotation marks, and parentheses, e.g. mismatched parentheses in the expression (2014]. Basic punctuation with periods and commas is checked independently of this checking. When this option is set, Word flags all expressions enclosed in single quotation marks, as in ’hei’, except for quotations inside quotations. This helps to detect a very common mistake, but the message is disturbing in texts (typically linguistic texts) that correctly use single quotes when giving the meaning of a word.
Lyhenteet
Abbreviations
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
When this option is selected, Word flags some old-fashioned spellings of some common abbreviations such as j. n. e. (with spaces) instead of jne. as incorrect.
Numeroiden ryhmittely
Grouping of digits
(Tiukka, Normaali, Vapaa)
This should relate to grouping of digits in large numbers and other expressions. However, Word seems to accept both correct Finnish grouping as in 1 000 000 and ungrouped numbers like 1000000 and even English-style 1,000,000. It detects some digit sequences as possible phone numbers and may suggest e.g. changing 0505500168 to 050 5500 168, which is appropriate. It may suggests changing the apparent landline phone number 098882675 to (09) 888 2675, which conforms to the old Finnish standard and ITU recommendations, but the current Finnish standard recommends 09 888 2675 without parentheses.
Iso alkukirjain
Capitalization
(Tiukka)
This indicates that the first letter of a sentence is not capitalized.
This section lists some material on Finnish in Finnish that was used in writing this book and that you might find useful. Most of the material requires good basic understanding of Finnish, so you probably wish to use it when you have studied the language for some time. Bibliographic information about the books mentioned can be found in Fennica, the online national bibliography, which has a user interface in English, too.