Breakdown of Vanhat silmälasit eivät ole enää ehjiä.
olla
to be
vanha
old
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
enää
anymore
ehjä
intact
silmälasit
glasses
Questions & Answers about Vanhat silmälasit eivät ole enää ehjiä.
Why is vanhat in the nominative plural (ending in -t) but ehjiä in the partitive plural?
Vanhat is an attributive adjective attached directly to the noun (silmälasit). It must match the noun exactly, so both are in the nominative plural (the standard plural form ending in -t). Ehjiä is a subject complement (predicative) coming after the verb olla. In Finnish, when a subject is plural, the adjective describing it after the verb is usually in the partitive plural.
How is the partitive plural ehjiä formed from the base word ehjä?
The dictionary form is ehjä (intact/whole). To form the partitive plural, we need the plural marker -i- and the partitive ending -ä. When adding -i- to a word ending in -ä, the final -ä is dropped. So: ehj- + -i- + -ä = ehjiä.
Why do we use eivät here instead of ei?
Just like "glasses" in English, silmälasit is grammatically a plural word (notice the -t at the end). Because the subject is plural, the negative verb must also be the "they" form, which is eivät. This is followed by the standard negative stem ole.
Why is enää placed in the middle of the sentence instead of at the end?
In negative sentences, enää (anymore / no longer) typically stays close to the negative verb, usually right after it. While Finnish word order is flexible, eivät ole enää ehjiä sounds much more natural and emphasizes the negation better than putting enää at the very end.
Learn Vanhat silmälasit eivät ole enää ehjiä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free