Breakdown of Tämä yhtälö on vaikea, mutta vähennyslasku ja kertolasku ovat helppoja.
tämä
this
olla
to be
mutta
but
ja
and
helppo
easy
vaikea
difficult / hard
yhtälö
equation
vähennyslasku
subtraction
kertolasku
multiplication
Questions & Answers about Tämä yhtälö on vaikea, mutta vähennyslasku ja kertolasku ovat helppoja.
Why is helppoja in the plural partitive instead of the plural nominative (helpot)?
When the subject of a sentence consists of multiple items joined by ja (and), the describing adjective is usually in the plural partitive (helppoja). You would only use the plural nominative (helpot) if you were referring to a very specific, complete, and restricted set of things, rather than talking about these math concepts in general.
Why isn't vaikea in the partitive form (vaikeaa)?
Even though math might feel abstract, tämä yhtälö (this equation) acts as a specific, singular, countable item in Finnish grammar. For singular, countable subjects, the describing adjective stays in the basic nominative form (vaikea). If the subject were an uncountable mass noun (like "water") or a purely abstract concept (like "life"), you would use the singular partitive (vaikeaa).
Both vähennyslasku and kertolasku end in -lasku. What does this mean?
The word lasku means a "calculation" (it can also mean a "bill" or "invoice"). Mathematical operations in Finnish are usually compound words ending in -lasku. Vähennys means "a decrease" or "a reduction", making vähennyslasku subtraction. The prefix kerto- comes from the verb kertoa (to multiply, or to tell), making kertolasku multiplication.
How is the word yhtälö (equation) formed?
It is based on the word yhtä, meaning "equally". In Finnish math, the equals sign (=) is read as on yhtä suuri kuin (is equally big as). The suffix -lö is used to create new nouns out of existing words, so yhtälö essentially translates to "an equality".
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