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Questions & Answers about Tämä musiikki koskettaa minua.
What case and function does tämä have in Tämä musiikki koskettaa minua?
tämä is in the nominative case and functions as a demonstrative determiner modifying musiikki, specifying which music is being discussed.
Why is musiikki in the nominative case?
Because musiikki is the subject of the sentence – it is the entity performing the action of touching.
Why is minua used instead of minä, and what case is it?
minua is the partitive form of minä. Many Finnish verbs – especially experiential verbs like koskettaa – take their object in the partitive to express an ongoing or incomplete effect on the experiencer.
What is the infinitive form of koskettaa, and which person and number is the form in this sentence?
The infinitive form is koskettaa. In Tämä musiikki koskettaa minua it appears as third person singular present indicative, meaning that this music touches.
Why doesn’t Finnish use articles like the or a here?
Finnish has no grammatical articles. Definiteness is implied by context or marked with demonstratives such as tämä.
Can the word order in the sentence be rearranged, and if so, how?
Yes. Finnish allows flexible word order for emphasis. For example:
• Minua koskettaa tämä musiikki (emphasises the experiencer)
• Koskettaa tämä musiikki minua (rare, more like a neutral statement without context)
What nuance does koskettaa carry, and could I use liikuttaa instead?
• koskettaa literally means to touch but here figuratively to move emotionally.
• liikuttaa also means to move emotionally. You can say Tämä musiikki liikuttaa minua to emphasise emotional movement.
How would you say This music touches me deeply in Finnish?
You can add an adverb for deeply, for example:
Tämä musiikki koskettaa minua syvästi.
Or with liikuttaa: Tämä musiikki liikuttaa minua syvästi.
How do you turn this sentence into a question in Finnish?
Attach the question particle -ko/-kö to the verb:
Koskettaako tämä musiikki minua?
This literally asks Does this music touch me.