Breakdown of Juoksija on uupunut, mutta tahti on silti nopea.
olla
to be
mutta
but
nopea
fast (adjective)
silti
anyway / nevertheless
uupunut
exhausted
juoksija
runner
tahti
the pace
Questions & Answers about Juoksija on uupunut, mutta tahti on silti nopea.
Could I use kuitenkin instead of silti here?
Yes, you could say mutta tahti on kuitenkin nopea. Both words express contrast, but silti often has a slightly stronger feeling of 'despite that' or 'nevertheless', whereas kuitenkin is a more general 'however'. In this sentence, they are practically interchangeable.
Why does silti come after the verb on instead of right after mutta?
In Finnish, adverbs like silti and kuitenkin usually prefer to sit right after the main verb of their clause (here, on). While saying mutta silti tahti on nopea is understandable, the word order mutta tahti on silti nopea sounds much more natural and typical to a Finnish speaker.
The word uupunut looks like a past tense verb. Is it acting as an adjective here?
Exactly! Uupunut is the past participle (the NUT-participle) of the verb uupua (to become exhausted). Just like in English, Finnish often uses these participles as regular adjectives to describe a state that someone has entered.
I recognize the word for running in juoksija. Is the -ija ending like the English '-er'?
Yes, it is! The suffix -ja or -jä (or -ija/-ijä depending on the word stem) is added to a verb to describe the person doing the action. Here, it is attached to the strong stem of juosta (to run), making juoksija (runner).
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