Ilma on kaunis tänään.

to be

Breakdown of Ilma on kaunis tänään.

• kaunis: beautiful
• tänään: today
• ilma: the air

Questions & Answers about Ilma on kaunis tänään.

Why do we say Ilma here instead of sää? Aren’t both used to talk about the weather?

Both ilma and sää can refer to “weather,” but ilma is slightly more general and can also mean “air.” In everyday speech, you’ll frequently hear both. There’s no strict rule about which to use when talking casually; they’re often interchangeable.

Why is the verb on used here instead of any other form of olla (to be)?

On is simply the third-person singular form of olla, corresponding to “is” in English. Since ilma (the subject) is singular, the correct form is on. In Finnish, the verb form must match the subject in person and number.

Why does kaunis come after on and not before it?

Finnish word order is relatively flexible, but a common basic pattern is Subject – Verb – Complement/Adjective – (Adverbial). Here:
• Ilma (Subject)
• on (Verb)
• kaunis (Adjective)
• tänään (Time indicator)

If you rearranged the words, it might change the emphasis but not necessarily the meaning.

What part of speech is tänään and how is it used?

Tänään is an adverb meaning “today.” Adverbs of time can be placed either at the beginning or end of a sentence, and it won’t significantly change the meaning. However, the default position is often at the end in Finnish.