Breakdown of Molempien silmien näkö on sumea.
olla
to be
silmä
eye
molemmat
both (of them)
näkö
vision
sumea
blurry
Questions & Answers about Molempien silmien näkö on sumea.
How do we form molempien from the base word molemmat?
Molemmat (both) inflects much like a comparative adjective (words ending in -mpi). To make the plural genitive, the stem changes to molempi-, and we add the plural genitive ending -en, giving us molempien.
Why are both molempien and silmien in the genitive case?
They translate to "of both eyes", showing whose vision is being talked about. In Finnish, words that modify a noun must agree with its case. Since silmien is in the plural genitive to show possession of the näkö (vision), molempien must also be in the plural genitive.
Can molemmat ever be used with singular nouns, like molempien silmän?
No, molemmat inherently means "both" and only exists in plural forms. Because it is plural, the noun it describes must also be plural. Therefore, you must use the plural genitive silmien rather than the singular genitive silmän.
Since "both eyes" is plural, why are the verb on and the adjective sumea in the singular?
The grammatical subject of the sentence is näkö (vision), which is a singular word. The phrase molempien silmien just describes whose vision it is. Because the subject is singular, the verb takes the singular form on and the adjective takes the singular form sumea.
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