Breakdown of Uusi rakennus keskustassa on todella korkea.
olla
to be
todella
really
uusi rakennus
the new building
keskustassa
in the city centre
korkea
tall
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Questions & Answers about Uusi rakennus keskustassa on todella korkea.
Why doesn’t Finnish use “a” or “the” in this sentence?
Finnish has no articles. Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context or expressed by other means (like word order or demonstratives such as tämä “this”). Here Uusi rakennus can mean “a new building” or “the new building,” depending on context.
What case is keskustassa, and what does it indicate?
keskustassa is the inessive case (marked by -ssa), which answers “where?” It literally means “in the center,” so keskustassa = “in (the) city center.”
Why are uusi and rakennus uninflected here?
They form the subject of the sentence and are in the nominative singular. In Finnish the basic, dictionary form of a noun or adjective is its nominative singular, and that form carries no ending.
What role does on play in this sentence?
on is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb olla (“to be”). It links the subject (Uusi rakennus keskustassa) to its descriptor (todella korkea), so literally “The new building in the center is really tall.”
How does todella function in Finnish?
todella is an adverb meaning “really” or “very.” It modifies the adjective korkea. Most Finnish adverbs end in -sti, but todella is one of the common exceptions ending in -a.
Why is the adjective korkea in the nominative form, not korkean?
In a positive copular sentence (one with olla), the predicate adjective stays in the nominative and agrees with the subject. So you say on korkea (“is tall”) rather than on korkean.
Do adjectives in Finnish always precede nouns, as in uusi rakennus?
Yes. When an adjective describes a noun attributively, it comes before the noun and agrees in case, number, and (if needed) gender. Here both are nominative singular, so no extra ending appears on uusi or rakennus.
Can you change the word order (e.g., put on first or move keskustassa)?
Finnish word order is relatively free and can be reshuffled for emphasis. The neutral order is Subject–Adverbial–Verb–Complement. You could say Keskustassa on uusi rakennus, joka on todella korkea (“In the center there is a new building that is really tall”) or put on earlier for stylistic reasons, but the basic meaning stays the same.