Breakdown of Eivätkö nämä juhlat ole hienot?
tämä
this
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
hieno
great
Questions & Answers about Eivätkö nämä juhlat ole hienot?
How do we form the negative question 'Aren't...' in this sentence?
By taking the negative verb for 'they' (eivät) and adding the question ending -kö. In Finnish, you always attach the question ending to the very first word of the question, which in negative questions is the negative verb itself.
Why do we use the plural eivätkö instead of the singular eikö?
The subject of the sentence is nämä juhlat, which is grammatically plural. Therefore, the negative verb has to match it and take the 'they' form, eivät.
Wait, doesn't juhlat usually mean a single 'party'?
Yes! The word for party, juhlat, is almost always plural in Finnish, even when talking about just one event. Because it is grammatically plural, everything else in the sentence must match it: we use the plural nämä (these), the plural verb eivätkö (aren't they), and the plural adjective hienot (great).
Why is the main verb ole instead of ovat?
In negative sentences and questions, the main verb drops its personal ending. The negative word eivätkö already tells us the subject is plural, so the main verb olla (to be) stays in its basic negative form, ole.