Breakdown of Messinki on materiaali, jollaista on helppo kunnostaa.
olla
to be
helppo
easy
materiaali
material
jollainen
the kind of which
Questions & Answers about Messinki on materiaali, jollaista on helppo kunnostaa.
Why is jollaista in the partitive case here instead of the nominative jollainen?
It acts as the object of the infinitive verb kunnostaa (to restore). When you restore an uncountable material, it takes a partitive object, as in kunnostan tätä materiaalia (I restore this material). Therefore, the relative adjective referring back to it must also take the partitive case.
Could I just use jota (the partitive of joka) instead of jollaista?
You could, but it changes the nuance slightly. While jota simply means 'which', jollaista specifically means 'the kind of which' or 'such as'. It highlights the properties or category of the material rather than just pointing back to the specific noun.
Where is the subject in the clause jollaista on helppo kunnostaa?
There isn't a grammatical subject. Finnish frequently uses this subjectless structure with adjectives like helppo (easy) or vaikea (hard) plus a verb in its basic infinitive form. It translates smoothly to 'which is easy to restore', but literally works more like 'the kind of which it is easy to restore'.
How is the verb kunnostaa formed?
It is derived from the noun kunto (condition, fitness). The suffix -staa is often used to create verbs that mean bringing something into a certain state, making kunnostaa literally mean 'to put back into good condition'.