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Questions & Answers about Käytetty pyörä toimii hyvin.
Why is there no article “the” before käytetty pyörä?
Finnish doesn’t have separate words for “a” or “the.” Definiteness and indefiniteness are inferred from context. So käytetty pyörä can mean either “a used bike” or “the used bike,” depending on the situation.
What case is pyörä, and why is käytetty not changing its form?
pyörä is in the nominative singular because it’s the subject of the sentence. Adjectives (and participles used as adjectives) agree in case and number with the noun they modify, so käytetty is also nominative singular.
What part of speech is käytetty, and how is it formed?
käytetty is the past participle of the verb käyttää (“to use”), used here as an adjective meaning “used.” It’s formed by taking the verb stem käyttä- and adding the participle ending -tty.
Why isn’t there a copula like on (“is”) in this sentence?
Because the main verb here is toimii (“functions/works”), not olla (“to be”). You’re literally saying “(The used bike) functions well” rather than “(The used bike) is functioning well” with a separate “is.”
What does toimii mean, and how is it conjugated?
toimii is the 3rd person singular present tense of toimia (“to function; to work”). The basic present-tense paradigm is:
minä toimin
sinä toimit
hän/se toimii
me toimimme
te toimitte
he toimivat
Why is it hyvin and not hyvä or hyvän?
hyvin is the adverb form of hyvä (“good”), formed by adding -n. Adverbs modify verbs, so to say that the bike “works well,” you need the adverb hyvin rather than the adjective hyvä.
Can I change the word order, for example put hyvin earlier?
Yes. Finnish has relatively free word order for nuance or emphasis. You could say Hyvin toimiva käytetty pyörä (“A well-functioning used bike”) or Pyörä toimii hyvin, käytettykin for stylistic emphasis. The core meaning remains the same.