Breakdown of Onko näissä kauniissa patsaissa virhe?
tämä
this
olla
to be
kaunis
beautiful
virhe
error
patsas
the statue
Questions & Answers about Onko näissä kauniissa patsaissa virhe?
Why do näissä, kauniissa, and patsaissa all have the -ssa or -ssä ending?
In Finnish, adjectives and demonstrative pronouns must match the case of the noun they describe. Because the noun is in the inessive plural (patsaissa, meaning "in statues"), the words for "these" (näissä) and "beautiful" (kauniissa) must also take the inessive plural endings.
How does the word tämä (this) become näissä (in these)?
The pronoun tämä has an irregular plural stem: näi-. To say "in these", you simply add the inessive ending -ssä to that plural stem, giving you näissä.
How do you form the inessive plural for an -is word like kaunis (kauniissa)?
Words ending in -is change the -is to -ii- to form their stem (kaunii-). The plural marker is usually an i, but since the stem already ends in a double ii, no extra i is needed. You just add the inessive ending -ssa directly to the stem, resulting in kauniissa.
What is the base form of patsaissa, and how do we build its plural stem?
The base noun is patsas (statue). For words ending in -as, the ending changes to a double vowel to make the singular stem (patsaa-). To make it plural, the last vowel changes to the plural i, creating the plural stem patsai-. Finally, add the inessive ending -ssa to get patsaissa.
Why does the sentence start with Onko instead of having a separate word for "there"?
This is an existential sentence, which expresses that something exists in a location. In Finnish, you don't use a filler word like the English "there". You just start with the verb olla (to be) and the location. By attaching the question clitic -ko to the verb on (is), you get Onko, meaning "Is there".
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