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Questions & Answers about Yllätys on suuri.
Why is yllätys in the basic nominative form without any article, even though in English I’d say “a surprise” or “the surprise”?
Finnish doesn’t have articles. Nouns appear in their base form, and whether something is definite (the) or indefinite (a) is determined by context, not by separate words. So yllätys can mean either “a surprise” or “the surprise” depending on the situation.
What does on mean here, and why is it used?
on is the third-person singular present form of the verb olla (to be). It functions exactly like is in English, linking the subject (yllätys) with its description (suuri).
Why doesn’t suuri change to match yllätys? In English adjectives agree with nouns.
In Finnish, adjectives used after olla as subject complements stay in the nominative singular and don’t take extra endings. They don’t change for gender or number like in some other languages, so suuri remains in its basic form even though it describes yllätys.
Could I include a pronoun like se at the start to say “It is a big surprise”?
Yes. You can say Se on suuri yllätys, which literally means “It is a big surprise.” In many contexts Finnish speakers drop se when the subject is clear, but adding se is perfectly normal and often sounds more natural in conversation.
Is the word order fixed as Yllätys on suuri, or can I rearrange it for emphasis?
Finnish has relatively free word order because case endings mark grammatical roles rather than position. The default is subject-verb-predicate (SVO), but you can move elements to shift emphasis. For example:
- On suuri yllätys (emphasizes the fact that there is a big surprise)
- Suuri yllätys on (more poetic or unusual) In everyday speech you’ll most often hear Yllätys on suuri or Se on suuri yllätys.
How do I pronounce yllätys and suuri correctly?
Finnish always stresses the first syllable.
- yllätys is pronounced [ˈylːætʏs], with a long ll and the front rounded vowel y.
- suuri is [ˈsuri], with uu as a long u sound.
What’s the difference between using suuri and iso for “big”?
Both mean “big,” but they have slightly different flavors.
- suuri is more formal or abstract, used for concepts like “a big surprise,” “a large amount,” or “a major problem.”
- iso is more colloquial and concrete, describing physical size (e.g. iso talo “a big house,” iso kissa “a big cat”).
You could say Iso yllätys in casual speech, but suuri yllätys is more idiomatic when talking about something surprising.