Questions & Answers about Muu ruoka on kylmä.
How does adjective agreement work with "muu" and "ruoka" here?
In Finnish, adjectives must match the form of the noun they describe. Because ruoka (food) is in its basic, dictionary form, the adjective muu (other) also stays in its basic form.
Does "kylmä" (cold) also have to match "ruoka"?
Yes! Even though the word on (is) sits between them, kylmä is describing the food. Therefore, it also matches the basic form of ruoka. If the sentence used a different form for the noun, the describing word at the end would also change to match it.
I thought "other" was "toinen". Why use "muu"?
Muu and toinen both translate to "other," but they have different meanings. Muu means "other" as in "the rest of it" or "a different kind." Toinen usually means "another" (one more of the same) or "the second one." Here, we mean the rest of the food.
Isn't food an uncountable mass word? Why isn't it "kylmää" in the partitive form?
Great catch! When talking about food in general, you usually use the partitive form and say ruoka on kylmää. By using the basic matching form kylmä here, the sentence is treating the food as a specific, single, countable item, like one specific dish or meal on the table.