Breakdown of Milloin konsertti on, ja miksi matka on kallis?
olla
to be
ja
and
kallis
expensive
miksi
why
milloin
when
konsertti
concert
matka
trip
Questions & Answers about Milloin konsertti on, ja miksi matka on kallis?
Why is the word order Milloin konsertti on instead of Milloin on konsertti?
In English, we swap the subject and verb to form a question. In Finnish, you just put the question word first and keep the normal sentence order: Question Word + Subject + Verb. Because you would normally say Konsertti on (The concert is), the question becomes Milloin konsertti on.
Why does the verb on come at the end of the first part, but in the middle of the second part?
Both halves of the sentence are following the exact same word order rule! After the question words milloin and miksi, we just see the normal statements konsertti on (the concert is) and matka on kallis (the trip is expensive). The first part simply has no other words to add after the verb.
Is the comma before ja (and) required here?
Yes! Unlike English, Finnish has very strict comma rules. You usually must put a comma before ja if it connects two complete independent clauses that each have their own subject and verb. Here, the two separate subjects are konsertti and matka.
Does matka mean the general act of traveling?
Matka specifically means a trip, a journey, or a distance. If you want to talk about the general act of traveling, Finnish uses different words, like the verb matkustaa (to travel).
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