Breakdown of En ostanut tuota saareketta, koska se ei ollut puolta kapeampi.
olla
to be
tuo
that
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
koska
because
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
ostaa
to buy
puoli
half
saareke
kitchen island
kapea
narrow
Questions & Answers about En ostanut tuota saareketta, koska se ei ollut puolta kapeampi.
In English, we say "half as wide," but the Finnish uses kapeampi (narrower). Why not leveämpi (wider)?
When English says "half as wide," it means the object is 50% smaller in width. Finnish expresses this mathematically as "narrower by a half" (puolta kapeampi). If you translated word-for-word and said puolta leveämpi, a Finn would understand it as "wider by a half" (meaning 150% of the original width). For fractions less than one, you must use the adjective that describes the shrinking direction (narrower, smaller, shorter).
Why is the word for "half" in the partitive case (puolta) here?
In Finnish comparisons, you can express the exact amount of difference by putting the measure in the partitive case right before the comparative adjective. Because of this rule, puolta kapeampi literally translates to "narrower by a half."
Why is tuota saareketta in the partitive case instead of the total object form tuon saarekkeen?
It is the direct object of the verb ostaa (to buy), and the action is negative (En ostanut). In Finnish, the object of a negative verb must always be in the partitive case, regardless of whether you intended to buy the whole thing or just a part of it.
The word saareke (kitchen island) looks a lot like saari (island). How are they related?
Saareke is formed from saari (island) plus the suffix -ke, which often creates a word for something smaller or physically similar to the root concept. While saari is a geographic island in water, saareke is used for land-based "islands" like a kitchen island, a traffic island, or an isolated stand of trees.
Learn En ostanut tuota saareketta, koska se ei ollut puolta kapeampi 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