Breakdown of Pyyntihinta on liian korkea ostaakseni sen.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ostaa
to buy
korkea
high, tall
Questions & Answers about Pyyntihinta on liian korkea ostaakseni sen.
How exactly is ostaakseni built to mean "for me to buy"?
This uses the excessive resultative structure. It is built by taking the 1st infinitive (the dictionary form, ostaa), adding the translative marker -kse-, and finishing with a possessive suffix. Here, the -ni suffix specifies "me". Combined with liian (too), the phrase liian korkea ostaakseni translates to "too high for me to buy".
The subject of the sentence is Pyyntihinta (the price), but the buyer is "me". Is it normal for these to be different?
Yes! This is a powerful feature of this construction. The main clause can be about one thing (the price being too high), while the possessive suffix on the infinitive (-ni) introduces a completely different person doing the action (me buying it). If the price were too high for us to buy, you would simply change the suffix: ostaaksemme.
Why is "it" translated as sen (genitive-accusative) rather than se (nominative)?
Learners often remember that objects of infinitives can be in the nominative case, but that rule only applies when the main clause's verb is passive, imperative, or a necessity verb (like täytyy) with no grammatical subject. Here, the main verb on has a clear subject (Pyyntihinta), so the object of the infinitive must take the standard genitive-accusative form, sen.
Could I use hintapyyntö instead of pyyntihinta?