Questions & Answers about Onko iso talo kallis?
Why is the question ending -ko here instead of -kö?
Because of vowel harmony! The verb on (is) contains the vowel 'o', which is a back vowel. Words with back vowels (a, o, u) must take the back-vowel version of suffixes, so we use -ko.
How does adding -ko to the verb create a question?
To ask a yes/no question in Finnish, you take the main verb, add the -ko or -kö ending, and move that verb to the very beginning of the sentence. A normal statement like Talo on kallis (The house is expensive) turns into Onko talo kallis? (Is the house expensive?).
Where is the word for "the" in the Finnish sentence?
Finnish does not have articles like "a" or "the". The phrase iso talo can mean "a big house" or "the big house" depending on the situation. Here, the translation uses "the" because it makes sense in English.
Why isn't the adjective "kallis" (expensive) next to "iso talo" (big house)?
Because kallis is describing what the house is, just like in the English sentence "Is the big house expensive?". If you wanted to say "Is it a big, expensive house?", you would group the adjectives together before the noun: Onko se iso, kallis talo?.