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Questions & Answers about Kiva nähdä sinua!
Why is sinua in the partitive case here instead of sinut?
With the verb nähdä (to see), using the partitive sinua focuses on the ongoing experience of seeing and being with the person. This sounds warm and natural for a greeting. If you used the accusative sinut, it would focus on the completed action of spotting someone, like 'Nice to have finally found you!'
Why doesn't the sentence start with on (it is)?
The grammatically complete sentence is On kiva nähdä sinua (It is nice to see you). However, in casual everyday Finnish, people frequently drop the verb on at the beginning of common exclamations like this.
Could I use other adjectives here instead of kiva?
Yes! You can easily swap kiva for other adjectives in their basic dictionary form. For example, Mukava nähdä sinua (Pleasant to see you) or Hauska nähdä sinua (Fun to see you) are also very common and natural greetings.