Breakdown of Joku sanoi, että ohjaaja on itsekäs.
olla
to be
sanoa
to say
että
that (conjunction)
joku
somebody, someone
ohjaaja
instructor / director
itsekäs
selfish
Questions & Answers about Joku sanoi, että ohjaaja on itsekäs.
How does the word itsekäs fit the -kas / -käs suffix pattern we are learning?
The word itsekäs (selfish) is built from the pronoun itse (self) plus the suffix -käs. Since the suffix denotes an abundance or inherent quality of the root word, someone who is itsekäs possesses an abundance of 'self'—meaning they are self-centered or selfish.
Why is the suffix -käs used here instead of -kas?
It is due to vowel harmony. The root word itse contains only the vowels 'i' and 'e'. Because these are neutral vowels and there are no back vowels (a, o, u) in the root, Finnish defaults to the front-vowel version of the suffix, which is -käs.
How does the word itsekäs change if we need to put it into a different case, like 'to the selfish director'?
Adjectives ending in -kas / -käs have a stem where the 'k' doubles and the final vowel lengthens. For itsekäs, the inflectional stem becomes itsekkää-. So, 'to the selfish director' (allative case) would be itsekkäälle ohjaajalle.
The word ohjaaja looks like it has a suffix too. How is it formed?
It is formed from the verb ohjata (to direct or steer). By taking the strong verb stem ohjaa- and adding the agent suffix -ja (which means 'the maker' or 'the one who does'), you get ohjaaja—the director.
Learn Joku sanoi, että ohjaaja on itsekäs and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free