Breakdown of Juoksija söi, mutta uupumus oli silti kova.
olla
to be
mutta
but
syödä
to eat
kova
strong (intense, hard)
silti
anyway / nevertheless
juoksija
runner
uupumus
exhaustion
Questions & Answers about Juoksija söi, mutta uupumus oli silti kova.
Since this lesson is about silti and kuitenkin, could we use kuitenkin instead of silti here?
Yes, you could say mutta uupumus oli kuitenkin kova (however, the exhaustion was severe). Both express contrast. Silti specifically emphasizes that a situation remains exactly the same despite what just happened, which translates perfectly to 'still' or 'nevertheless' in this context.
Could I place silti right after mutta, like in the English phrase 'but still'?
Yes, mutta silti uupumus oli kova is grammatically correct and perfectly understandable. However, putting silti after the verb (oli silti kova) is a very common and natural word order in Finnish, smoothly blending the contrasting word into the flow of the clause.
Why translate kova as 'severe' when it usually means 'hard'?
While kova literally means 'hard' (like a rock), Finnish uses it broadly for intense or extreme abstract conditions. You will often see it used for 'severe' (like kova kipu for severe pain), 'loud' (kova ääni), or 'tough' (kova kilpailu for tough competition).
Where does the word uupumus (exhaustion) come from?
It is built from the verb uupua, which means 'to tire' or 'to become exhausted'. The -mus (or -mys) suffix is a common way to turn verbs into nouns representing the state, feeling, or result of that action.
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