Breakdown of Ovatko nämä korvakorut yksivärisiä?
tämä
this
olla
to be
korvakoru
earring
yksivärinen
solid-colored
Questions & Answers about Ovatko nämä korvakorut yksivärisiä?
Why is the adjective yksivärisiä in the partitive plural instead of having a standard plural -t ending?
This is the main rule for plural subject complements! When you have a plural subject in the nominative case (like nämä korvakorut), the adjective describing it must be in the partitive plural. So we say korvakorut ovat yksivärisiä, never "korvakorut ovat yksiväriset".
How do we get the form yksivärisiä from the basic dictionary word?
The dictionary form is yksivärinen (solid-colored). Adjectives ending in -nen change their stem to -si- in the plural. Then we add the partitive plural ending -ä (chosen over -a because of vowel harmony with the front vowels in the stem).
Why doesn't the subject nämä korvakorut also take the partitive plural?
In Finnish, the subject of a basic "A is B" sentence usually stays in the basic nominative case, even if it is plural. The nominative plural is marked by the -t ending on korvakorut and the plural pronoun nämä. Only the describing adjective after the verb takes the partitive plural.
How are the words korvakorut and yksivärisiä built?
They are both very logical compound words. Korvakoru is simply korva (ear) plus koru (piece of jewelry). Yksivärinen is made of yksi (one) and väri (color), plus the adjective-forming suffix -nen.
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