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Questions & Answers about Aurinko paistaa nyt.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence, like Aurinko on paistaa?
Finnish doesn't have a separate continuous tense (like "is shining" or "am walking" in English). The simple present tense verb paistaa translates to both "shines" and "is shining". Adding the verb on (is) would be grammatically incorrect here.
Since this lesson is about negation, how do we say "The sun is not shining now"?
You would say Aurinko ei paista nyt. To make a negative sentence, you use the correct form of the negative verb (here, ei for the "it" form) followed by the connegative stem of the main verb. For Type 1 verbs, you find this stem by taking the minä form (paistan) and dropping the -n ending.
The lesson says the negative stem should be in the weak grade. Why doesn't the st in paista change?
Certain consonant combinations, including st, are immune to consonant gradation. They simply don't have a weak grade! Therefore, the strong stem and the weak stem for paistaa are exactly the same.
Could I change the word order and say Nyt aurinko paistaa?
Yes, Finnish word order is quite flexible. Putting nyt (now) at the beginning is perfectly fine and just shifts the focus slightly, as if to say, "Now the sun is shining" (implying it wasn't a moment ago).