Breakdown of Sekä kuumuus että pimeys ovat tuskallisia.
olla
to be
että
that (conjunction)
sekä
both
pimeys
darkness
tuskallinen
agonizing
kuumuus
heat
Questions & Answers about Sekä kuumuus että pimeys ovat tuskallisia.
What does the sekä ... että structure mean here?
This is a common pair of conjunctions that translates directly to "both ... and ...". You put the first thing being linked right after sekä and the second after että.
Why is the verb ovat in the plural when kuumuus and pimeys are both singular words?
Because they are linked by sekä ... että (both ... and), the two singular nouns combine to form a plural subject. As a result, the verb must take the plural form ovat.
Why is the adjective tuskallisia in the plural partitive case instead of the plural nominative (tuskalliset)?
When making a general statement about a plural subject (especially one made of uncountable or abstract concepts like heat and darkness), the describing adjective is put into the plural partitive case. If you used the plural nominative, it would sound like you were talking about specific, countable instances of heat and darkness.
How are the nouns kuumuus and pimeys formed?
They are built by adding the suffix -uus or -yys to their root adjectives. The adjective kuuma (hot) becomes kuumuus (heat), and pimeä (dark) becomes pimeys (darkness). This works exactly like adding "-ness" to an adjective in English.
Learn Sekä kuumuus että pimeys ovat tuskallisia 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