Questions & Answers about Onko tämä uusi kirja hyvä?
Why does the word for 'is' (on) have -ko attached to it instead of -kö?
The ending -ko is the question tag for yes/no questions. Because of vowel harmony, we use -ko if the word has back vowels (a, o, u) and -kö if it has front vowels (ä, ö, y). Since on has the back vowel o, it takes -ko to become onko.
Why does the sentence start with onko instead of tämä ('this')?
In Finnish, to ask a yes/no question, you take the word you are asking about, add -ko or -kö, and move it to the very beginning of the sentence. Here, we are asking 'is it?' so the verb on gets the question tag and goes first.
The word kirja ('book') has an i. Why is it considered a back-vowel word for vowel harmony?
In Finnish, i and e are 'neutral' vowels. They can exist alongside either front or back vowels. Because kirja also has the back vowel a, the word as a whole acts as a back-vowel word. Any ending attached to it would need to be a back-vowel suffix.
Does vowel harmony mean all the words in this sentence have to match?
No! Vowel harmony only applies within a single word and the endings attached to it. That is why it is perfectly fine to have a back-vowel word like onko right next to a front-vowel word like tämä in the same sentence.
Learn Onko tämä uusi kirja hyvä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free