Questions & Answers about Tämä ei riitä.
Why is there no word for 'is' in the Finnish sentence?
In English, we say 'is enough' using the verb 'to be' and a descriptive word. Finnish has a specific verb just for this: riittää, which means 'to be enough' or 'to suffice'. Because the action is already built into the verb itself, you don't need a separate word for 'is'.
Why is it spelled riitä with one 't' when the dictionary form is riittää?
This happens because of consonant gradation. When you make a verb negative in the present tense, you use its 'weak' stem. For verb type 1 verbs like riittää, the double -tt- weakens to a single -t-, giving us the negative form ei riitä.
How would I use this lesson's new clitic to say 'This isn't enough either'?
You would attach the negative additive clitic -kään directly to the word 'this' to emphasize that this specific thing is also not enough. Because tämä has front vowels (ä), vowel harmony rules mean we use -kään instead of -kaan. The result is Tämäkään ei riitä.
Learn Tämä ei riitä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free