Breakdown of Jono on pitkä, mutta minä olen ensimmäinen!
olla
to be
minä
I
mutta
but
pitkä
long, tall
ensimmäinen
first
jono
queue
Questions & Answers about Jono on pitkä, mutta minä olen ensimmäinen!
'First' is ensimmäinen. Does this look anything like the number 'one' (yksi)?
No, the words for 'first' (ensimmäinen) and 'second' (toinen) are completely irregular in Finnish. They do not look like yksi (one) and kaksi (two). From 'third' (kolmas) onwards, the ordinal numbers start looking much more like the regular counting numbers.
Why is ensimmäinen in the basic nominative case here?
Because it describes the subject minä (I) using the verb olla (to be). When an adjective or numeral describes a subject in this way, it usually takes the basic nominative case. You can see the exact same rule in the first half of the sentence, where pitkä (long) describes jono (the queue).
How would I write ensimmäinen as a digit instead of a word?
In Finnish, you make a number an ordinal by putting a period right after the digit. So, 'first' is written as 1. (with the dot). If you write just 1 without the dot, it means the regular counting number yksi.
Is the word jono only used for a line of people?
Jono translates to 'queue' or 'line', and it is very versatile! You can use it for a line of people at the store, a line of cars in a traffic jam, or even a sequence of numbers.
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