Breakdown of Tämä vanha melodia kuulostaa kauniilta.
tämä
this
vanha
old
kaunis
beautiful
kuulostaa
to sound
melodia
melody
Questions & Answers about Tämä vanha melodia kuulostaa kauniilta.
Why is the word for beautiful kauniilta instead of the basic form kaunis?
This is because of the verb kuulostaa (to sound). In Finnish, verbs of perception (like sounding, looking, or tasting like something) require the describing word to be in the ablative case, which uses the -lta/-ltä ending.
How does the word kaunis turn into kauniilta? Why is there a double 'i' instead of an 's'?
Words ending in -is, like kaunis, change their ending to -ii- before you add case suffixes. So, the stem of the word becomes kaunii-, and then you add the ablative ending -lta to get kauniilta.
I learned that adjectives have to match the noun. Why aren't tämä and vanha also in the -lta case?
Adjectives only match the noun they are directly attached to. tämä (this) and vanha (old) describe the subject, melodia, which is in the basic nominative case. The word kauniilta isn't attached directly to the noun; instead, its case is dictated by the verb kuulostaa.
Can I say kuulostaa kauniille instead?
Yes, absolutely! With perception verbs like kuulostaa, näyttää, and tuntua, you can use either the ablative case (-lta/-ltä) or the allative case (-lle). Both kuulostaa kauniilta and kuulostaa kauniille are correct and mean the exact same thing.
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