Breakdown of Tämä sana ei ole helppo.
tämä
this
olla
to be
sana
word
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
Questions & Answers about Tämä sana ei ole helppo.
Why do we use ole instead of on after ei?
In Finnish, negative sentences use a negative verb (here, ei for "it") and a special un-conjugated form of the main verb, called the connegative. For the verb olla (to be), that special form is ole. So, "it is" is on, but "it is not" is ei ole.
If I wanted to say "These words are not easy", how would ei ole change?
The negative verb changes to match the subject! For a plural subject like "these words" (they), the negative verb is eivät. The main verb stays in that same ole form. So, "they are not" becomes eivät ole.
Doesn't the negative word ei usually make things partitive? Why is helppo in its basic form?
You are right that negative sentences often force words into the partitive case! However, that rule mostly applies to the object of a sentence (the thing an action is happening to). Here, we are just describing the subject (Tämä sana) using the verb "to be". For singular, countable things like a word, the describing adjective stays in the basic form (helppo).
Do Tämä and sana always go together exactly like English "This word"?