Questions & Answers about Pomo oli niin raivostunut, että me tärisimme.
How exactly does the niin ... että structure work in this sentence?
The structure niin [adjective/adverb], että [clause] is the exact equivalent of the English "so [adjective/adverb] that [clause]". Here, niin amplifies the adjective raivostunut, and että introduces the consequence clause me tärisimme.
Why is there a comma before että? We wouldn't always use a comma before "that" in English.
Finnish punctuation rules are very strict about clauses. Because että me tärisimme is a subordinate clause with its own subject (me) and conjugated verb (tärisimme), you must separate it from the main clause with a comma. This is a hard rule before almost all että clauses.
Raivostunut translates to "furious", but isn't that a verb form?
Yes, raivostunut is the past active participle (the NUT participle) of the verb raivostua (to become infuriated/enraged). Like many participles in Finnish, it is commonly used as a regular adjective. It literally means "having become infuriated", which translates smoothly to "furious".
What is the basic dictionary form of the verb tärisimme?
The dictionary form is täristä (to shake, tremble, or vibrate), which is a Type 4 verb ending in -stä. To form the past tense, the present stem tärise- drops its final vowel and adds the past tense marker 'i' to become tärisi-, before attaching the 'we' personal ending -mme.