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Kuitti on tärkeä.

Kuitti on tärkeä.
The receipt is important.
FromLesson 12inHardcore Finnish
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Breakdown of Kuitti on tärkeä.

olla
to be
tärkeä
important
kuitti
the receipt

Questions & Answers about Kuitti on tärkeä.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in Kuitti on tärkeä?
Finnish has no articles. Words like “a” and “the” are simply omitted. Context tells you whether you mean any receipt (indefinite) or a specific receipt (definite). If you really need to emphasize definiteness, you can add a demonstrative: Tämä kuitti on tärkeä (“This receipt is important”).
What case is kuitti in, and why is it in that case?
Kuitti is in the nominative singular. In Finnish, the subject of a sentence (the “thing doing or being described”) appears in the nominative. Here, kuitti is the subject of the verb on (“is”), so it stays in the nominative form.
Why doesn’t the adjective tärkeä have any extra ending?
Adjectives agree in case and number with the noun they modify. Since tärkeä is a predicate adjective describing kuitti (nominative singular), it also takes the nominative singular form tärkeä. If you had multiple receipts, you’d say tärkeitä (nominative plural).
What is on, and how is it formed?

On is the third‐person singular present tense of the verb olla (“to be”).
– Minä olen (“I am”)
– Sinä olet (“you are”)
– Hän/se on (“he/she/it is”)
So in Kuitti on tärkeä, on simply means “is.”

Is the word order always Subject-Verb-Predicate in Finnish?

The neutral or unmarked word order is S-V-P (subject–verb–predicate), as in Kuitti on tärkeä. However, Finnish word order is quite flexible for emphasis. For example:
– Tärkeä on kuitti (emphasizes that it’s specifically the receipt that’s important)
– On tärkeä kuitti (reads more like “There is an important receipt”)

How do I make the sentence negative: “The receipt is not important”?

Use the negative verb ei plus the infinitive form of olla, then the adjective stays nominative singular:
Kuitti ei ole tärkeä.

How do I say “The receipts are important” in Finnish?

Turn both noun and adjective into nominative plural, and conjugate olla for third‐person plural:
Kuitit ovat tärkeitä.
– kuitit = receipts (nom. pl.)
– ovat = are (3 pl. of olla)
– tärkeitä = important (nom. pl.)

How would I say “This receipt is important”?

Add the demonstrative pronoun tämä before kuitti:
Tämä kuitti on tärkeä.
– tämä = this (nom. sg.)
– kuitti = receipt
– on tärkeä = is important

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