Word
Kahdet hautajaiset ovat liikaa.
Meaning
Two funerals are too much.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Kahdet hautajaiset ovat liikaa.
Why do we use kahdet instead of kaksi here?
The word hautajaiset (funeral) is a plural-only noun, just like häät (wedding) or kasvot (face). When you count nouns that only exist in the plural, you must use the plural forms of numbers, so kaksi becomes the nominative plural kahdet.
Normally sentences starting with a number take a singular verb. Why does this sentence use the plural verb ovat?
You are remembering the standard rule where a number is followed by a partitive singular noun, which takes a singular verb (like Kaksi autoa on...). However, because we are using a plural numeral (kahdet) with a nominative plural noun (hautajaiset), the grammatical subject is fully plural. Therefore, the verb must match and be in the plural form (ovat).
Is hautajaiset always plural, even if I am only talking about one funeral?
Yes! To say 'one funeral', you would use the plural numeral yhdet and say yhdet hautajaiset. Major life events and ceremonies in Finnish are often plural-only words because they historically consisted of multiple parts or customs.
Why is the word for 'too much' in the partitive case (liikaa) instead of the nominative (liika)?
In this sentence, liikaa acts as an adverb of quantity. Because it expresses an abstract, uncountable amount regarding the situation rather than a specific physical object, it takes the partitive case.