Demonstratives of Quality
To point out specific qualities, Finnish uses demonstrative adjectives ending in -nen. These are built from the basic demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se) and mean "this kind of", "that kind of", or "such a":
- tällainen: this kind of (from tämä)
- tuollainen: that kind of (from tuo)
- sellainen: such a / that kind of (from se)
Like all adjectives, they must agree with the noun they modify.
| This kind of volcano is too hot. | Tällainen tulivuori on liian kuuma. |
| I do not know why a challenger like that is crying. | En tiedä, miksi tuollainen haastaja itkee. |
| Such a competition is completely crazy. | Sellainen kilpailu on täysin hullu. |
Inflecting -nen Demonstratives
Like other -nen words, these adjectives change their endings to match the noun's case:
Partitive case (-sta): tällaista, tuollaista, sellaista. Use this with partitive verbs (like eating) or unbounded quantities.
| I have never eaten this kind of chili. | En ole koskaan syönyt tällaista chiliä. |
| Who eats that kind of chili? | Kuka syö tuollaista chiliä? |
Genitive/Accusative case (-sen): tällaisen, tuollaisen, sellaisen. Use this for total objects when an action is completed.
| Why did you swallow such a chili? | Miksi sinä nielaisit sellaisen chilin? |
Chili Contest Drama
At a hot chili pepper eating contest, the stakes are high. To issue an ultimatum, use the conjunction pair joko [A] tai [B] (either [A] or [B]).
| Either you swallow that kind of flame or you give up. | Joko nielaiset tuollaisen liekin tai luovutat. |
| This kind of chili burns like a volcano. | Tällainen chili polttaa kuin tulivuori. |
| The challenger has such a tear in the eye. | Haastajalla on sellainen kyynel silmässä. |