Breakdown of Uudet silmälasit ovat usein kalliita, mutta ne ovat myös tyylikkäitä.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
mutta
but
myös
also
uusi
new
kallis
expensive
usein
often
tyylikäs
stylish
silmälasit
glasses
Questions & Answers about Uudet silmälasit ovat usein kalliita, mutta ne ovat myös tyylikkäitä.
Why are kalliita and tyylikkäitä in the partitive plural instead of the nominative plural?
In Finnish, when you use the verb olla (to be) to describe a countable plural subject like silmälasit (glasses), the describing adjectives (the subject complements) are put in the partitive plural. So, while the subject is in the nominative plural, the adjectives describing it take the partitive plural forms kalliita and tyylikkäitä.
Why is the adjective Uudet in the nominative plural, but the other adjectives are partitive plural?
Adjectives that appear right before the noun they modify must match the noun's case. Since silmälasit is the subject and is in the nominative plural, Uudet must match it. However, adjectives that come after the verb to describe the subject follow the syntax rule of taking the partitive plural.
How does the word kallis (expensive) become kalliita?
Words ending in -is, like kallis or kaunis, form their plural stem by changing the -is to -ii-. Then you add the partitive plural ending -ta, resulting in kalliita.
What is the base form of tyylikkäitä and how does it change?
The base form is tyylikäs (stylish). For adjectives ending in -käs, the plural stem changes to -kkäi-, which also includes strengthening the consonant from k to kk. Finally, you add the partitive plural ending -tä to get tyylikkäitä.
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