Tuoli on pieni mutta mukava.

to be

Breakdown of Tuoli on pieni mutta mukava.

• pieni: small
• tuoli: the chair
• mutta: but
• mukava: comfortable

Questions & Answers about Tuoli on pieni mutta mukava.

Why doesn’t the sentence use any article like a or the for tuoli?

In Finnish, nouns typically don’t have articles. So instead of saying a chair or the chair, Finnish simply says tuoli. Context determines whether it’s a specific chair or just any chair.

What role does on play in this sentence?

On is the third-person singular form of the verb olla (to be). It tells us that tuoli (the chair) is in the state of being pieni (small) but mukava (comfortable).

How do I pronounce pieni and mukava?

• pieni can be broken down as pie-ni, and both syllables get equal stress: [pee-eh-nee].
• mukava is mu-ka-va, also with balanced stress on each syllable: [moo-kah-vah].

Is there a difference in tone or nuance when using mutta compared to ja or some other connecting word?

• mutta means but, showing contrast: the chair is small, yet at the same time comfortable.
• ja means and, which would not emphasize the contrast.
• If you used ja instead, you’d just be listing qualities (small and comfortable), without highlighting any contrast.