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Questions & Answers about Vaelluskenkä on vedenpitävä.
What does vaelluskenkä mean literally, and why is it one word?
Vaelluskenkä is a compound noun:
- vaellus = hike, trek
- kenkä = shoe
Together, vaelluskenkä means hiking boot or hiking shoe.
Finnish forms compounds very often, and unlike English, they are usually written as one word. So Finnish prefers vaelluskenkä, not vaellus kenkä.
Why is there no word for a or the in the sentence?
Finnish does not have articles like a, an, or the.
So Vaelluskenkä on vedenpitävä can mean:
- A hiking boot is waterproof
- The hiking boot is waterproof
- Hiking boots are waterproof in a generic sense, depending on context
You understand which one is meant from the situation, not from an article.
Why is on used here?