Learn Finnish: Onkohan tuo tiimalasi vain harhautus? - I wonder if that hourglass is just a distraction?

The suffix -ko turns the verb on ("is") into a yes/no question. Adding the enclitic -han softens it into a pondering or rhetorical question. Instead of a direct "Is that hourglass just a distraction?", Onkohan translates to "I wonder if that hourglass is just a distraction?"

How is the noun harhautus formed?

It is derived from the verb harhauttaa (to distract, mislead, or deceive). The -us suffix turns the verb into a noun. You might also recognize the root word harha, which means an illusion, delusion, or straying from the path.

Is tiima in tiimalasi related to the word for "time"?

Yes! Tiimalasi is a compound of tiima and lasi (glass). While tunti is the standard modern Finnish word for "hour", tiima is an older word for "hour" or "time" (borrowed from the Swedish word timme). Just like in English, it literally means "hour-glass".

How would I rewrite this sentence to say "That hourglass turned out to be just a distraction", using this lesson's focus verb osoittautua?