Breakdown of Asiakas on unohtavainen, mikä on ongelma.
olla
to be
ongelma
problem
asiakas
the customer
mikä
which (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Asiakas on unohtavainen, mikä on ongelma.
How exactly is the adjective unohtavainen built from the verb unohtaa?
It is formed by taking the strong vowel stem of the verb, unohta-, and adding the suffix -vainen. This suffix is used to create adjectives that describe a tendency, habit, or personality trait. Thus, "to forget" becomes "forgetful" (prone to forgetting).
How does unohtavainen differ from the active present participle unohtava?
The participle unohtava refers to an action happening in a specific moment (a "forgetting" client). By contrast, adding the -vainen suffix creates an adjective that describes a permanent or habitual characteristic: someone who is inherently "forgetful".
Why does the sentence use mikä for "which" instead of the more common relative pronoun joka?
We use mikä when "which" refers back to the entire preceding clause (the whole situation of the client being forgetful). If the sentence used joka, it would usually refer to the noun right before it, which would incorrectly imply that the client themselves is the problem!
What form would unohtavainen take if we were talking about multiple clients?
Because it describes a plural subject as a predicative adjective, it would need the partitive plural form. Words ending in -nen change their stem to -se- before adding the plural -i- and partitive -a, making it unohtavaisia. The sentence would become: Asiakkaat ovat unohtavaisia.