Breakdown of Naapurini koira on iloinen tänään.
olla
to be
minun
my
koira
the dog
tänään
today
naapuri
the neighbor
iloinen
happy
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Questions & Answers about Naapurini koira on iloinen tänään.
What does the suffix -ni in naapurini signify?
The -ni is the first person singular possessive suffix meaning “my.” When attached to naapuri (“neighbor”), naapurini literally means “my neighbor.”
Why is koira in the nominative singular and not in the genitive or marked with a possessive suffix?
In Finnish, an attributive possessor takes the genitive case (here naapurini). The possessed noun stays in the case required by its role in the sentence. Since koira is the subject, it remains in the nominative singular.
Could I use a separate pronoun minun before naapurini?
Yes. You can say minun naapurini koira on iloinen tänään, but it’s redundant because the possessive suffix -ni already marks “my.” Native speakers often omit the pronoun when they have the suffix.
Why is there no article like the or a in this sentence?
Finnish doesn’t use definite or indefinite articles. Instead, context and case endings convey definiteness or indefiniteness. So you simply say koira for “a dog” or “the dog,” depending on context.
How does the verb on function in this sentence?
On is the third person singular present form of olla (“to be”). It links the subject (koira) to its property (iloinen).
Why is the adjective iloinen in this form and how does it agree with the subject?
Iloinen is in the nominative singular to agree with koira, which is also nominative singular. In Finnish adjectives match the case, number, and sometimes the degree (positive/comparative/superlative) of the noun they describe.
What about the word tänään? Why doesn’t it have a case ending?
Tänään is an adverb meaning “today.” Finnish adverbs of time, manner, place, etc., are usually invariant—they don’t take case endings.
Can I change the word order, for example put tänään at the beginning?
Absolutely. Finnish word order is flexible. You can say Tänään naapurini koira on iloinen to put extra emphasis on tänään.
How would I say “my neighbor’s dogs are happy today” in Finnish?
Use the plural forms:
Naapurini koirat ovat iloisia tänään.
Here koira → koirat, on → ovat, and iloinen → iloisia to match plural.