Breakdown of Tämä vanha valaisin on puhdistettu.
tämä
this
olla
to be
vanha
old
puhdistaa
to clean (an object, wound, etc.)
Questions & Answers about Tämä vanha valaisin on puhdistettu.
How do we build the word puhdistettu from the basic verb puhdistaa?
To make the past passive participle, you first find the passive stem. Take the present passive form puhdistetaan (is cleaned) and drop the -aan ending to get puhdistet-. Then, just add the ending -tu (or -ty depending on vowel harmony). The resulting word puhdistettu acts like an adjective meaning "cleaned".
Is "on puhdistettu" the perfect passive tense ("has been cleaned") or an adjective ("is cleaned")?
It can be both! In Finnish, the perfect passive tense and the "to be + past passive participle" structure look exactly the same. Because puhdistettu describes a completed action that resulted in a state, you can translate it as "has been cleaned" (the action) or "is cleaned" (the current state of the light fixture). The context usually tells you which feels more natural in English.
The word valaisin (light fixture) looks like a derived word. How is it formed?
You have a good eye! In Finnish, the suffix -in is often used to turn a verb into a noun that represents a tool or instrument. It comes from the noun valo (light), which gives us the verb valaista (to illuminate). By adding the tool suffix, we get valaisin—literally the "illuminating instrument."
Why is the subject "Tämä vanha valaisin" in the nominative case instead of the partitive?