Learn Finnish: Ovatko sakset likaisia? - Are the scissors dirty?

When a plural subject like sakset (scissors) is described by an adjective, that adjective (the subject complement) generally takes the partitive plural form (likaisia). This describes the state or quality of the subject. If you used the nominative plural (likaiset), it would sound more like you are singling out a specific group, meaning "Are the scissors the dirty ones?".

Is sakset always plural, even if I only have one pair of scissors?

Yes! Just like in English, sakset is a plural-only word. Because it is grammatically plural, it must be paired with the plural verb ovat (they are), regardless of whether you are holding one pair of scissors or five.

How does the basic adjective likainen (dirty) become likaisia?

Adjectives ending in -nen have a stem ending in -se-, making the base likaise-. To build the partitive plural, we add the plural marker -i- and the partitive ending -a. The -e- at the end of the stem drops out to make room for the plural -i-, resulting in likais- + -i- + -a = likaisia.

Why does this sentence start with Ovatko?