Breakdown of Vaikka hinta on korkea, ostan sen silti.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ostaa
to buy
hinta
price
korkea
high, tall
vaikka
although / even though
silti
anyway / nevertheless
Questions & Answers about Vaikka hinta on korkea, ostan sen silti.
How does vaikka work in this sentence, and why is there a comma?
Vaikka (even though/although) starts a subordinate clause. In Finnish, you must always put a comma between a subordinate clause and a main clause. Here, it separates the background information (Vaikka hinta on korkea) from the main action (ostan sen silti).
Do I have to use silti if I already used vaikka at the beginning?
You don't strictly have to, but they are very commonly paired together. Vaikka means "even though", and silti means "anyway", "still", or "nevertheless". Using them together sounds very natural and emphasizes the contrast: "Even though the price is high, I will buy it anyway."
Why is "it" translated as sen instead of the basic word se?
Because "it" is the object of the verb ostan (I buy). In Finnish, when you complete an action to a whole object in a positive sentence, the object usually takes the genitive case, which ends in -n. So, the basic word se becomes sen.
The English translation says "I will buy", but isn't ostan in the present tense?
Yes, ostan literally means "I buy". Finnish doesn't have a separate future tense. You use the present tense for future actions, and the context (along with the complete object sen) tells the listener that the action will be finished in the future.
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