Learn Finnish: Ovatpa nämä potkut yllättävät! - These dismissals sure are surprising!

The emphatic clitic -pa or -pä is always attached to the very first word of the clause. In this exclamation, the speaker wants to emphasize the verb to say something sure is a certain way. To do this, the verb ovat is moved to the front of the sentence and the clitic is attached directly to it.

Wait, doesn't putting the verb first make this a question?

Normally, yes! Starting a sentence with a verb usually means it's a question, but that requires the question clitic -ko or -kö (like Ovatko...?). When you start a sentence with a verb and attach -pa or -pä instead, it creates a strong exclamation or statement of surprise, not a question.

Why is everything in the plural form (nämä potkut yllättävät) if it just means one dismissal?

The Finnish word for getting fired or dismissed is potkut (literally "kicks"). It is a word that is always plural, even when referring to a single event. Because the main noun is plural, the pronoun (nämä) and the adjective (yllättävät) must also take the plural -t ending to match.

Where does the adjective yllättävät come from?