Questions & Answers about Talo on niin iso.
Why is iso in the basic form here instead of the partitive form (isoa)?
The adjective iso (big) must match the subject of the sentence, talo (house). Because talo is a single, countable noun in the basic nominative form, the adjective describing it must also be in the basic nominative form. If the subject were an uncountable mass word like vesi (water), the adjective would take the partitive form instead.
Does adding the word niin (so) change how the adjective agrees with the noun?
No. The word niin is an adverb, and adverbs do not affect the grammatical case of the words around them. The adjective iso still looks directly at the noun talo to know which form to take.
If the sentence were about multiple houses (The houses are so big), how would the adjective change to match?
In Finnish, adjectives must match their nouns in number as well as case. Since the plural for house is talot, the adjective would also need the plural -t ending, becoming isot. The full plural sentence would be Talot ovat niin isot.
Learn Talo on niin iso and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free