Breakdown of Tämä pienikokoinen pentu on tosi hyvätapainen.
tämä
this
olla
to be
tosi
really (intensifier)
pentu
the puppy
pienikokoinen
small-sized
hyvätapainen
well-mannered
Questions & Answers about Tämä pienikokoinen pentu on tosi hyvätapainen.
How are the compound adjectives pienikokoinen and hyvätapainen built in this sentence?
Both follow the Modifier + Noun stem + -inen pattern. Pienikokoinen combines pieni (small) + koko (size) + -inen. Hyvätapainen combines hyvä (good) + tapa (manner or habit) + -inen. The suffix works just like the English endings in small-sized and well-mannered.
Why are the first parts of these compounds (pieni, hyvä) in their basic dictionary form?
In property compounds, when the first part is an adjective describing the noun, it usually stays in the nominative (dictionary) form. If the modifier were a noun instead, it would typically take the genitive case, for example, sudenkokoinen (wolf-sized).
How would these -inen adjectives change if the sentence required a different case?
Tosi means true, so why is it translated as really here?
While tosi is an adjective meaning true, it is also very frequently used as a colloquial adverb meaning really or very. It is interchangeable with todella in this context, though tosi sounds much more natural in everyday spoken Finnish.
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