Breakdown of Nuo isot timantit olisivat kalliita.
olla
to be
tuo
that
iso
big
kallis
expensive
timantti
the diamond
Questions & Answers about Nuo isot timantit olisivat kalliita.
How is the conditional built in the word olisivat?
It comes from the verb olla (to be). You take the base ol-, add the conditional marker -isi- (which adds the meaning "would"), and finish with the personal ending for "they", which is -vat. Together, it means "they would be".
Why do nuo and isot both have plural forms here?
In Finnish, demonstrative words like "those" and adjectives must match the case and number of the noun they describe. Since timantit (diamonds) is in the basic plural form, the word tuo (that) becomes nuo (those), and iso (big) gets the plural -t to become isot.
If the subject is in the basic plural, why is kalliita in the partitive plural?
Kalliita is a predicative adjective, meaning it describes the subject after the verb "to be". In Finnish, when a predicative adjective describes a plural subject, it must be in the partitive plural case. The base form is kallis (expensive), and its partitive plural is kalliita.
Does using the conditional mood change the case of any other words in the sentence?
No. The conditional marker -isi- only changes the verb. If you wanted to say "Those big diamonds ARE expensive", you would just swap olisivat for ovat. The rest of the sentence (Nuo isot timantit... kalliita) stays exactly the same.
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