Word
Onko tämä asiakirja virallisesti ranskaksi?
Meaning
Is this document officially in French?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Onko tämä asiakirja virallisesti ranskaksi?
tämä
this
olla
to be
asiakirja
document
ranska
French
Questions & Answers about Onko tämä asiakirja virallisesti ranskaksi?
The translative case usually means changing into something. Why is it used here for ranskaksi (in French)?
While the translative case often shows a change of state, it is also the standard rule in Finnish for expressing the language in which something is communicated, written, or spoken. Therefore, when a document is written in French, you must use the -ksi ending.
Could I use the partitive case (ranskaa) or inessive case (ranskassa) instead to say in French?
No. You use the partitive ranskaa when talking about the language as a skill, like Puhun ranskaa (I speak French). The inessive Ranskassa literally means geographically in France. For a medium of communication like a document or a book, you must use the translative.
How is the word asiakirja (document) formed?
It is a compound word made of asia (matter, issue, or thing) and kirja (book). In administrative and legal contexts, this combination translates to a document or record.
Why use virallisesti here instead of just virallinen?
Virallisesti is an adverb meaning officially, formed by adding the -sti suffix to the adjective virallinen (official). If you used the adjective, the sentence would be Onko tämä virallinen asiakirja ranskaksi? meaning Is this official document in French?