Learn Finnish: Kuvaamme usein taivasta. Revontulet ovat nimittäin upeita. - We often film the sky. The northern lights are wonderful, you see.

Kuvaamme usein taivasta. Revontulet ovat nimittäin upeita.

We often film the sky. The northern lights are wonderful, you see.

Breakdown of Kuvaamme usein taivasta. Revontulet ovat nimittäin upeita.

Questions & Answers about Kuvaamme usein taivasta. Revontulet ovat nimittäin upeita.

Why is nimittäin placed in the middle of the second sentence?

Unlike English explanatory words like "because," nimittäin (meaning "you see" or "because") cannot start a sentence in Finnish. It is usually delayed and placed after the first word or phrase of the clause. Here, it is tucked in after Revontulet ovat to link the explanation smoothly back to why the sky is being filmed.

Why does the verb kuvata require the partitive form taivasta?

The verb kuvata (to film / to photograph) takes a partitive object because the action is seen as an ongoing, continuous process. You aren't "completing" the sky by filming it, so it takes the partitive ending -ta.

Why is the adjective upeita in the partitive plural?

When you use an adjective to describe a plural noun in a sentence like "The [plural nouns] are [adjective]," Finnish requires that describing word (the predicative adjective) to be in the partitive plural. The word upeita shows the plural marker -i- followed by the partitive ending -ta.

What does revontulet literally mean?

It literally translates to "fox's fires." It is a compound of revon (the genitive form of repo, an old word for fox) and tulet (the plural of tuli, fire). The name comes from an old myth that a magical fox created the northern lights by sweeping snow into the sky with its tail.