Breakdown of Toisessa paidassa on hieno kuvio, mutta toinen on täysin sileä.
olla
to be
mutta
but
paita
shirt
toinen
other, another; second
Questions & Answers about Toisessa paidassa on hieno kuvio, mutta toinen on täysin sileä.
Why is the English word 'one' translated as toisessa instead of yksi?
When contrasting two things as 'one... the other', Finnish uses the pronoun pair toinen ... toinen. You cannot use yksi for the first item in this specific contrast structure.
Why does the sentence say toisessa paidassa on (in one shirt is) instead of having a verb for 'has'?
Finnish lacks a direct verb for 'to have'. Instead, it uses the structure 'location + on'. To say 'the shirt has', you literally say 'in the shirt is' (paidassa on). Because toinen describes the shirt, it must match its inessive ('in') case, becoming toisessa.
Why is the second toinen in the basic nominative case when the first one was toisessa?
The second half of the sentence (mutta toinen on täysin sileä) does not use the 'have' structure. Here, 'the other' is simply the subject of the verb on (is), so it stays in the basic nominative form.
Why is the word for 'completely' täysin instead of täysi?
Täysi is an adjective meaning 'full'. By adding -n, it becomes the adverb täysin (completely or fully). Since it is describing how smooth the shirt is, it modifies the adjective sileä, so the adverb form is required.