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Questions & Answers about Sitruuna on hapan.
Why is hapan in the nominative case instead of the partitive (hapanta)?
Because sitruuna refers to a whole, countable lemon here. When describing a singular, countable noun, the adjective is in the nominative case. If you were talking about lemon as a general substance or flavor, you would use the partitive: Sitruuna on hapanta.
How does the word hapan change in other cases?
It uses reverse consonant gradation. The dictionary form has the weak consonant p, but the vowel stem takes the strong double consonant pp and ends in -ma-. For example, the genitive is happaman and the plural is happamat.
What is the partitive form of hapan?
The partitive singular is hapanta. Like many other adjectives ending in a consonant (such as lämmin or vasen), the partitive ending -ta is added directly to the dictionary form, keeping the weak single p.
Can hapan be used to describe people's moods, like in English?
Yes! Just like in English, you can use hapan metaphorically to describe a person who is acting grumpy, sour, or bitter. For example, hapan ilme means a sour facial expression.