Breakdown of Sirkuksen akrobaattiset temput ovat hämmästyttäviä.
olla
to be
temppu
trick
sirkus
the circus
akrobaattinen
acrobatic
hämmästyttävä
amazing
Questions & Answers about Sirkuksen akrobaattiset temput ovat hämmästyttäviä.
How would I ask 'What kind of tricks are they?' using the question words from this lesson?
To ask about the quality of the tricks, you would use millainen or minkälainen. Because the descriptive answer (hämmästyttäviä) is in the partitive plural, the question word must match it: Millaisia sirkuksen akrobaattiset temput ovat? (What are the circus's acrobatic tricks like?).
Both akrobaattiset and hämmästyttäviä describe the tricks, so why are they in different cases?
Position matters! Akrobaattiset comes directly before the noun it modifies (temput), so it matches it exactly in the nominative plural. But hämmästyttäviä comes after the verb ovat as a describing word (a predicative adjective). When describing a plural subject like temput, these adjectives after the verb must be in the partitive plural.
Why use the genitive sirkuksen instead of a location case like sirkuksessa (in/at the circus)?
English often uses 'at the...' to link nouns, but Finnish frequently uses the genitive case to show belonging or association. Sirkuksen akrobaattiset temput literally means 'the circus's acrobatic tricks'. This treats the tricks as a specific part of the circus's show, rather than just something happening to be inside the building.
Is hämmästyttäviä related to a verb?
Yes, it comes from the verb hämmästyttää (to amaze or astonish). By adding the -vä ending, it becomes an adjective meaning 'amazing'. Here, the base form hämmästyttävä has been put into the partitive plural, becoming hämmästyttäviä.
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