Questions & Answers about Seinä on maalattu valkoiseksi.
Why do we use on maalattu here instead of the regular passive form maalataan?
Why is the word for white written as valkoiseksi and not just valkoinen?
valkoiseksi is in the translative case, which uses the ending -ksi. Finnish uses this case to show a change of state or a transformation. Because the wall is being turned into a white color through the act of painting, the adjective must take this form.
How is the form maalattu built from the dictionary verb maalata (to paint)?
maalata is a type 4 verb. To form the passive past participle for type 4 verbs, you simply drop the infinitive ending -ta and replace it with -ttu. This gives you maalattu.
Why is Seinä in the basic nominative case if it is the object receiving the paint?
Even though the wall received the action of painting, this specific sentence structure describes its current state using the verb olla (to be). It works just like saying Seinä on vanha (The wall is old). Because of this, Seinä is the grammatical subject here and stays in the basic nominative case.