Questions & Answers about Eikö tämä kakku ole pähkinätön?
How is the word pähkinätön formed?
It comes from the noun pähkinä (nut) and the ending -tön, which means without or -less. You use -tön instead of -ton here because of vowel harmony: pähkinä contains the front vowel ä, so it requires the front-vowel version of the ending.
How exactly does eikö mean isn't?
Eikö is made of two parts: the negative verb ei (is not) and the question ending -kö. Adding -ko or -kö to the first word of a sentence turns it into a yes/no question. Since this is a negative question (Isn't...?), the ending attaches directly to the negative verb.
Why does the sentence use ole instead of on?
Because it is a negative sentence. When using the negative word ei, the main verb drops its personal ending. So, on (is) becomes ei ole (is not). Even though ei has the question particle attached to become eikö, it still forces the main verb into this ole form.
Why isn't pähkinätön in the partitive case, since the sentence is negative?
Negative sentences often trigger the partitive case for objects, but this sentence uses the verb olla (to be) to describe the subject. For a singular, countable subject like tämä kakku (this cake), the adjective describing it stays in the basic nominative form (pähkinätön) even when the sentence is negative.