Breakdown of Nämä ovat lohduttomat ja asumattomat rannat.
olla
to be
ja
and
nämä
these
ranta
beach
asumaton
uninhabited
lohduton
desolate
Questions & Answers about Nämä ovat lohduttomat ja asumattomat rannat.
Why do lohduton and asumaton change to lohduttomat and asumattomat in the plural?
Adjectives ending in the 'without' suffix -ton/-tön (like English '-less') have a special stem change. When you add an ending like the plural -t, the stem changes to -ttoma- or -ttömä-. Notice how the single 't' in the basic form becomes a strong double 'tt' in the stem before the plural -t is added.
What noun does the adjective lohduton come from?
It comes from lohtu, which means 'comfort' or 'consolation'. Adding the -ton suffix makes it mean 'comfortless', which translates well to 'desolate' or 'bleak' when describing places.
How is asumaton formed if asua is a verb, not a noun?
While the -ton/-tön suffix is usually added to nouns, it can also be attached to verbs using the third infinitive stem (the -ma/-mä form). Here, asua (to live) becomes asuma-, and adding -ton makes asumaton, meaning 'uninhabited' or 'unlived-in'.
Why is the end of this sentence in the nominative plural (rannat) instead of the partitive plural (rantoja)?
In Finnish, the predicative (the phrase after the 'to be' verb) is in the nominative plural when you are talking about specific, defined things ('These are the desolate beaches'). If it were in the partitive plural (Nämä ovat lohduttomia ja asumattomia rantoja), the meaning would change to 'These are some desolate and uninhabited beaches.'
Learn Nämä ovat lohduttomat ja asumattomat rannat 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