Breakdown of Syksyllä hän on yksin, mutta hän on onnellinen.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
mutta
but
yksin
alone
syksy
autumn
onnellinen
happy (deeply, fortunate)
Questions & Answers about Syksyllä hän on yksin, mutta hän on onnellinen.
Why does syksyllä end in -llä if it means 'in the autumn'?
In Finnish, time expressions involving seasons (like autumn, syksy) use the adessive ending -llä or -lla (which usually means 'on' or 'at') to say 'in the [season]'. So syksyllä translates to 'in the autumn'.
Does hän mean 'he' or 'she'?
The Finnish pronoun hän means both 'he' and 'she'! Finnish does not have gendered pronouns, so you have to figure out who is being talked about from the context.
Is yksin an adjective like onnellinen?
No, yksin is an adverb meaning 'alone' or 'by oneself', so it doesn't change its ending to match other words in the sentence. Onnellinen (happy) is an adjective.
How do I know whether to add -lla or -llä to a word?
This is due to vowel harmony. Because the word syksy contains the front vowel y, any endings attached to it must also use front vowels (ä, ö, or y). That is why it takes -llä instead of -lla.
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