Breakdown of Onko tentti suullinen vai kirjallinen?
olla
to be
vai
or (in questions)
tentti
the exam
kirjallinen
written
suullinen
oral
Questions & Answers about Onko tentti suullinen vai kirjallinen?
How does the suffix -llinen change the word suu here?
The noun suu means "mouth". Adding the suffix -llinen turns it into the adjective suullinen, which means "oral" or "spoken".
What is the root word of kirjallinen?
It comes from the noun kirja (book). By adding -llinen, it becomes kirjallinen, which translates to "written" or "literary" in English. Think of it as an exam that is "book-like"!
Why does this sentence use vai instead of tai for "or"?
In Finnish, vai is used in questions when you are offering mutually exclusive choices and expect the listener to pick one. If you used tai, it would sound like a yes/no question asking if the exam happens to be either of those things, rather than asking which one it is.
Could I use the word koe instead of tentti here?
You could, but they have slightly different contexts. Tentti specifically refers to a university or higher education exam. Koe is a more general word for a test or school exam (like a math test or a driving test).
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