Breakdown of Lapsi on kiinnostunut kaikesta.
lapsi
child
kaikki
all, everything, everyone
olla kiinnostunut
to be interested in
Questions & Answers about Lapsi on kiinnostunut kaikesta.
Why does the sentence use the form kaikesta (from everything) instead of translating the word "in" directly?
In Finnish, the word kiinnostunut (interested) always requires the object of interest to be in the elative case (the "out of" or "from" case, ending in -sta or -stä). This is a set rule called "verb rection". So, instead of saying "interested in everything", Finnish practically says "interested from everything" (kiinnostunut kaikesta).
How do we get the form kaikesta from the basic word kaikki (everything)?
The word kaikki has the stem kaikke-. When we add the ending -sta, it closes the syllable. This triggers consonant gradation, where the strong double -kk- weakens to a single -k-. Therefore, kaikke- plus -sta becomes kaikesta.
What kind of word is kiinnostunut?
It acts as the adjective "interested" in this sentence, but it is actually a verb form. It is the past participle (often called the NUT-participle) of the verb kiinnostua, which means "to become interested".
How do I avoid mixing up kiinnostunut and kiinnostava?
Kiinnostunut describes how someone feels (interested), while kiinnostava describes the thing or person causing the feeling (interesting). If you wanted to say "The child is interesting", you would say Lapsi on kiinnostava.
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