Breakdown of Onpa tuo juoru kieltämättä yllättävä!
olla
to be
tuo
that
juoru
the gossip
yllättävä
surprising
Questions & Answers about Onpa tuo juoru kieltämättä yllättävä!
How does the clitic -pa change the meaning of on in this sentence?
The -pa clitic adds emphasis, surprise, or sudden realization. Attaching it to on (is) creates a feeling of 'Wow, it really is' or 'It sure is.'
Why is the verb Onpa at the very beginning of the sentence?
In Finnish, when you add an emphatic clitic like -pa/-pä (or a question marker like -ko/-kö) to a word, that word gets pulled to the absolute front of the clause. This shifts the core focus of the sentence onto the verb.
What is the structure behind the word kieltämättä?
It is built from the verb kieltää (to deny). The ending -mättä means 'without doing' something. So kieltämättä literally translates to 'without denying', which translates smoothly to English as 'undeniably'.
Why does yllättävä end in -vä?
It is a participle form of the verb yllättää (to surprise). Adding -va/-vä to a verb creates an adjective describing what a noun is currently doing, so yllättävä literally means 'surprising' or 'which is surprising'.