Asia on tärkeä.

to be

Breakdown of Asia on tärkeä.

• tärkeä: important
• asia: the thing

Questions & Answers about Asia on tärkeä.

What does the word Asia mean, and what role does it play in the sentence?

Asia functions as the subject of the sentence. It can translate to "matter," "thing," or "issue" in English, depending on context. In this sentence, it stands for the topic under discussion, conveying that this particular matter is important.

What is the function of the verb on in this sentence?

On is the third-person singular form of the verb "olla," which means "to be." In Asia on tärkeä, it serves as the copula, linking the subject Asia with the predicate adjective tärkeä. This is equivalent to the English word "is."

How does adjective agreement work in this example, specifically with tärkeä?

In Finnish, adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in number and case. Here, Asia is in the nominative singular, and consequently, tärkeä also appears in its nominative singular form. Unlike English, Finnish adjectives do not change to reflect gender or definite/indefinite status.

Why does the sentence lack articles such as "the" or "a"?

Finnish does not use articles. Instead of incorporating words like "the" or "a," Finnish relies on context to indicate whether a noun is being used in a definite or indefinite way. This is why Asia on tärkeä naturally appears without any articles.

Is the word order in Finnish flexible, and does it change the meaning compared to English?

Yes, Finnish word order is generally more flexible than English. Although Asia on tärkeä follows the standard subject-verb-adjective order for clarity, alternative structures can be used to emphasize different parts of the sentence without drastically altering the meaning. The basic grammatical relationships, however, remain clear through case endings and verb forms.