Uusi auto on todella kallis.

to be

Breakdown of Uusi auto on todella kallis.

• uusi auto: the new car
• todella: really
• kallis: expensive

Questions & Answers about Uusi auto on todella kallis.

Why is there no article before "uusi auto"?

Finnish does not use articles the way English does. In Finnish, you simply say uusi auto without the or a, and the context determines if it’s definite or indefinite.

Why is the adjective "uusi" in the same case as "auto"?

When using the verb on to describe a noun in Finnish, the adjective that describes the subject is in the nominative case if the subject is singular. So you get uusi auto (nominative) rather than any other case form.

What does "todella" mean, and can I replace it with something else?

Todella means really or very. You could also use erittäin (also meaning very) or tosi (more colloquial, meaning really) in its place.

Why is "kallis" not inflected here?

As a predicative adjective (an adjective that comes after on), kallis remains in the nominative case to match the subject auto, which is also nominative. If you were describing the car in another sentence part (like an object), you might need to use a different form, for example, kalliin auton ("an expensive car" as object).

Is there a specific word order rule I should be aware of?

In Finnish, the typical word order for this kind of statement is Subject + Verb + Complement, so Uusi auto on todella kallis follows the usual pattern. However, Finnish word order can be flexible for emphasis, so sometimes you might see variations like Todella kallis on uusi auto, but that’s less common in neutral statements.