Breakdown of Etsin niitä uusia kynsilakkoja.
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
uusi
new
etsiä
to look for
kynsilakka
nail polish
Questions & Answers about Etsin niitä uusia kynsilakkoja.
Why is the word for "those" niitä instead of ne?
Niitä is the partitive plural form of se (it/that), whose basic plural is ne (they/those). We need the partitive case here because the verb etsiä (to look for) always requires the thing you are looking for to be in the partitive case.
Why do uusia and kynsilakkoja also have to be in the partitive plural?
In Finnish, adjectives and demonstrative pronouns (like "those" or "these") must match the noun they describe. Because the noun kynsilakkoja is forced into the partitive plural by the verb, the words niitä and uusia must perfectly match its case and number.
How does the word uusi (new) become uusia in the partitive plural?
The word uusi belongs to a special group of words ending in -si. While its partitive singular form looks quite different (uutta), its partitive plural is formed by taking the stem uusi- and simply adding the partitive ending -a, resulting in uusia.
What is the base form of kynsilakkoja, and why is there an o in it?
The base noun is kynsilakka (nail polish). To form the partitive plural, we need the plural marker -i- (which becomes -j- between vowels) and the partitive ending -a. For words ending in -a, that final -a changes to an -o- before the plural -j-, making it kynsilakkoja.
Learn Etsin niitä uusia kynsilakkoja 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