Breakdown of Tämä on kiusallinen tilanne, koska meillä ei ole kemiaa.
tämä
this
olla
to be
me
we
koska
because
ei
no / not (negative verb)
tilanne
situation
kiusallinen
awkward
kemia
chemistry
Questions & Answers about Tämä on kiusallinen tilanne, koska meillä ei ole kemiaa.
How would I use the lesson's topic, ei kumpikaan, to say "because neither of us has chemistry" in this sentence?
You would say koska meillä kummallakaan ei ole kemiaa. Because this uses the Finnish "have" structure, the word for "neither" must also take the adessive case (kummallakaan) to match meillä. The suffix -kaan is required here because the sentence is negative.
Why is kemiaa in the partitive case here?
In Finnish, when you use the negative "have" structure (like meillä ei ole), the thing you do not have must always be in the partitive case. Therefore, the basic noun kemia takes a partitive ending to become kemiaa.
The word kiusallinen translates to "awkward", but I have also learned the word nolo. Could I use nolo here?
It would sound a bit strange in this context. Kiusallinen is the best word for an uncomfortable, tense, or socially awkward atmosphere. Nolo is closer to "embarrassing" or "cringeworthy," and is usually used when someone specifically makes a fool of themselves.
Does the phrase "have chemistry" work exactly the same way in Finnish as it does in English?
Yes! While kemia literally means the science subject of chemistry, using it to say two people have kemiaa is a very natural and common way to describe an interpersonal or romantic spark in Finnish too.
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