Paras kirjailija kirjoittaa tarinan, joka koskettaa perhettäni.

The best author writes a story that touches my family.

Breakdown of Paras kirjailija kirjoittaa tarinan, joka koskettaa perhettäni.

• minun: my
• joka: that
• perhe: the family
• kirjailija: the author
• kirjoittaa: to write
• tarina: the story
• paras: best
• koskettaa: to touch

Questions & Answers about Paras kirjailija kirjoittaa tarinan, joka koskettaa perhettäni.

Why aren’t there any articles like “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Finnish simply doesn’t have indefinite or definite articles. You express definiteness or indefiniteness through context, word order or case marking, but you never add a separate word for “a” or “the.” So Paras kirjailija can mean “the best writer” or just “best writer” without inserting “the.”

What does paras mean, and how do you form superlatives in Finnish?

Paras is the superlative form of hyvä (“good”). In Finnish, superlatives are formed by adding the suffix -in to the positive adjective stem and then adjusting for vowel harmony and consonant gradation. You then inflect the resulting adjective like any other:

• Positive: hyvä
• Superlative stem: hyvä + in → hyväinen → paras
• Nominative singular: paras kirjailija (“best writer”)
• Genitive singular: parhaan kirjailijan
• Partitive singular: parasta kirjailijaa

Why is there no subject pronoun before kirjoittaa, and how is that verb form built?

Kirjoittaa here is 3rd person singular present tense (“writes” or “is writing”). Finnish normally drops personal pronouns when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action. The conjugation pattern for kirjoittaa (type I verb) is:

• Minä kirjoitan
• Sinä kirjoitat
• Hän (tai hän) kirjoittaa

So kirjoittaa alone tells you “he/she writes.”

Why does tarina take the -n ending (becoming tarinan)?

Tarinan is the accusative singular form of tarina (“story”), serving as the direct object of kirjoittaa. For most “Type I” nouns, the accusative singular and the genitive singular look identical:

• Nominative: tarina
• Accusative (= Genitive): tarinan

Use the accusative when the action is complete or the object is a single, bounded entity.

What is joka, and why not mikä?

Joka is the standard relative pronoun meaning “who,” “which,” or “that” when referring back to a noun. It agrees in number and case with its antecedent (tarina in nominative, singular):

• tarina, joka koskettaa…
  Mikä is used as a relative pronoun only for pronoun-like words (e.g. se, kaikki). You cannot use mikä to refer back to the noun tarina.

Why is it perhettäni and not just perheeni?

Two things are happening here:

1. The verb koskettaa (“to touch emotionally”) requires its object in the partitive case when you talk about affecting something.
2. The suffix -ni marks “my.”

Breakdown of perhettäni:

• Stem: perhe-
• Partitive ending: -ttä → perhettä
• Possessive suffix (my): -ni → perhettäni
  You can’t use perheeni (“my family” in nominative) here because koskettaa wants a partitive object.

Why is the partitive case used after koskettaa?

Many Finnish verbs that describe feelings, perception or incomplete actions take their objects in the partitive. With koskettaa the partitive highlights the ongoing or incompletely bounded nature of “touching” someone emotionally. Hence perhettäni rather than an accusative form.

How would you say this sentence in the past tense?

You have two common options:

1. Simple past (imperfect): Paras kirjailija kirjoitti tarinan, joka kosketti perhettäni.
2. Present perfect: Paras kirjailija on kirjoittanut tarinan, joka on koskettanut perhettäni.