This paper discusses subject-verb-complement (SVC) clauses and their renderings in English and Finnish. Comparisons are made on the level of surface structure and with regard to equivalence in the sense of one construction being an optimum translation of the other. The definition of congruence, i.e., formal similarity and equal number of equivalent formatives arranged in similar order, excluding the English article, is applied to these equivalents. This reveals a certain amount of congruence on the sentence level. The congruent sentence types are those that have "be - olla" plus a noun phrase (NP) subject complement in the singular or in the plural and those with "be - olla" plus adjectival subject complement in the singular. The other copulas in Finnish require a particular case for the subject complement; thus, the sentences are not formally similar and not congruent with the English sentences. This is also the case with "be - olla" plus NP in the plural or adjectival complement in the plural. (Author/AM)