Breakdown of Epäillyllä on viikset ja kauhean näköinen arpi.
olla
to be
ja
and
kauhea
terrible
epäilty
suspect
näköinen
-looking / looking like
viikset
mustache
arpi
scar
Questions & Answers about Epäillyllä on viikset ja kauhean näköinen arpi.
Why is kauhea in the genitive case (kauhean) in the phrase kauhean näköinen?
This is how Finnish forms 'looking' adjectives. The base word näköinen means 'looking', and the word describing how it looks must take the genitive case. So, kauhean näköinen literally means 'of a terrible look' or 'terrible-looking'. While often written as two words, some very common combinations are written as one.
What is the base form of epäillyllä, and why does the spelling change so much?
The base form is the noun epäilty (suspect). To say 'the suspect has', we need the adessive case ending -llä. Adding this ending triggers consonant gradation, causing the strong lt in epäilty to become a weak ll, resulting in epäillyllä.
Why is the word for 'mustache' (viikset) in the plural form?
In Finnish, viikset is a plural-only word (pluralia tantum), much like 'scissors' or 'pants' in English. Even though we say 'a mustache' in English, Finns always treat it as plural.
Why are viikset and arpi in the nominative case instead of the partitive case?
In 'have' sentences (adessive + olla), the object being owned is usually in the nominative case if it is a whole, countable thing. Since a mustache (as a complete set) and a scar are considered whole, countable items here, they take the nominative form instead of the partitive.
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