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Questions & Answers about Akku on kallis.
What does akku mean in English?
Akku translates to battery. In everyday Finnish it refers to a rechargeable battery, like the one in your phone or laptop.
What is on doing in this sentence?
On is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb olla (to be). Here it links the subject akku (battery) with the adjective kallis (expensive).
Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “the” in Finnish?
Finnish does not use definite or indefinite articles. You simply say Akku on kallis for both “A battery is expensive” and “The battery is expensive,” relying on context instead of “a” or “the.”
Why does kallis have no extra ending?
Kallis is an adjective in the positive degree. Since both akku and kallis are in the nominative singular, the adjective takes its basic form without additional endings. Adjectives in Finnish agree in case and number with the nouns they describe.
How would you turn this into a question: “Is the battery expensive?”
Use the question particle -ko/-kö attached to the verb and invert word order:
Onko akku kallis?
How do you say “The batteries are expensive” (plural)?
Change both noun and adjective to the nominative plural and use the plural form of olla:
Akut ovat kalliit.
How do you emphasize “very expensive”?
Insert an adverb like todella (really) or erittäin (extremely) before the adjective:
Akku on todella kallis.
Akku on erittäin kallis.
What’s the comparative form (“cheaper”) of kallis?
The comparative of kallis is halvempi (cheaper). So you’d say:
Akku on halvempi.