Breakdown of Nämä tytöt, jotka tanssivat, ovat puheliaita, mutta nuo pojat ovat ujoja.
olla
to be
mutta
but
nämä
these
nuo
those (over there)
poika
boy
tyttö
girl
tanssia
to dance
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
ujo
shy
puhelias
talkative
Questions & Answers about Nämä tytöt, jotka tanssivat, ovat puheliaita, mutta nuo pojat ovat ujoja.
Why is it jotka instead of joka in this sentence?
Jotka is the plural form of the relative pronoun joka (who/which/that). Because it refers back to the plural subject tytöt (girls), the pronoun must also be plural.
Why are the adjectives puheliaita and ujoja in the partitive case?
When you describe a plural noun using the verb to be (like the girls are talkative or the boys are shy), the describing adjective must always be in the partitive plural.
What is the dictionary form of puheliaita, and how does it change here?
The dictionary form is puhelias (talkative). For words ending in -as or -äs, you form the partitive plural by replacing the final -s with -ita or -itä, making it puheliaita.
What is the difference between nämä and nuo?
They are both plural demonstrative pronouns, but they show different distances. Nämä means these (the plural of tämä, things close to you), and nuo means those (the plural of tuo, things farther away).
Why are there commas around jotka tanssivat?
In Finnish grammar, a relative clause that starts with joka or jotka must always be separated from the rest of the main sentence with commas.
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