Breakdown of Se on ihan uskomatonta.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
uskomaton
unbelievable
ihan
totally, completely (colloquial)
Questions & Answers about Se on ihan uskomatonta.
How would you turn this sentence into a negative question, like 'Isn't that totally unbelievable?'
To make a negative yes/no question, you attach the question particle -kö to the negative verb. For the 'it' form, the negative verb is ei, so you start with eikö se ole (isn't it). The full sentence becomes: Eikö se ole ihan uskomatonta?
Why is uskomatonta in the partitive case here instead of the basic form uskomaton?
In Finnish, when the subject of a sentence (here, se) refers to an abstract idea, a situation, or an action rather than a specific physical object, the describing word (adjective) must be in the partitive case. That is why we use the partitive form uskomatonta.
What does the ending -maton mean in the base word uskomaton?
The word comes from the verb uskoa (to believe). The suffix -maton (or -mätön) is the Finnish equivalent of the English prefix 'un-' or suffix '-less', showing that something cannot be done or lacks a quality. So uskomaton means unbelievable. In this sentence, it then gets the partitive ending -ta.
Could I use tosi instead of ihan in this sentence?
Yes, you could absolutely say se on tosi uskomatonta (that is really unbelievable) or todella uskomatonta (truly unbelievable). Ihan is very common in everyday Finnish and gives the exact feeling of 'totally' or 'quite' in this context.