Breakdown of Lahjakas näyttelijä on nimekäs mutta itsekäs.
olla
to be
mutta
but
näyttelijä
the actor
lahjakas
talented
itsekäs
selfish
nimekäs
renowned (big-name)
Questions & Answers about Lahjakas näyttelijä on nimekäs mutta itsekäs.
How do the base words change meaning when -kas / -käs is added here?
The suffix -kas / -käs turns a noun into an adjective meaning "having a lot of" that thing. In this sentence, lahja (gift) becomes lahjakas (gifted/talented), nimi (name) becomes nimekäs (renowned/famous), and itse (self) becomes itsekäs (selfish/full of oneself).
Why do we see both -kas and -käs in this sentence?
Vowel harmony determines which version you use. Lahja contains the back vowel a, so it takes -kas. Nimi and itse contain only the neutral front vowels i and e, so they take the front-vowel version -käs.
Why does nimi become nimekäs instead of "nimikäs"?
When attaching suffixes like -kas / -käs, old Finnish words ending in -i (like nimi, kivi, or lehti) change their final -i to an -e- in the stem. Therefore, nimi uses the stem nime-, resulting in nimekäs.
How does the word näyttelijä (actor) break down?
It is built from the verb näytellä (to act / to play a part), which is related to näyttää (to show). The suffix -jä is added to the verb stem to create a noun representing the person doing the action, similar to the English "-er".
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