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Questions & Answers about Kaupunki on suuri.
What does each word in Kaupunki on suuri mean?
Kaupunki means “city,” on is the third-person singular form of the verb olla (“to be”), and suuri means “big.” Together, the sentence translates to “The city is big.”
Why doesn't the sentence include an article before kaupunki?
Finnish does not have articles like the or a/an. Nouns in Finnish, such as kaupunki, are used without articles, which is why the sentence simply starts with kaupunki.
How is the verb on conjugated, and why is it used here?
On is the third-person singular present form of olla (“to be”). Since kaupunki is a singular noun, on is the correct conjugation meaning “is” in this context.
What is the word order of Kaupunki on suuri, and is it flexible in Finnish?
The sentence follows a subject-verb-adjective order: kaupunki (subject) + on (verb) + suuri (predicate adjective). While this is a common structure in Finnish, the language’s rich case system allows for flexible word order without changing the meaning.
Why does the adjective suuri not show any form of agreement with kaupunki?
In predicate constructions like this, the adjective suuri remains in the nominative form and does not take additional inflections. Finnish adjectives agree with the noun in case and number when used attributively, but in a predicate (after the verb), they typically remain uninflected.