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Questions & Answers about Kahvi tuoksuu hyvältä.
What does tuoksuu mean, and how is it used here?
tuoksuu is the present tense, third person singular form of the intransitive verb tuoksua, which means “to smell” in the sense of “emit an odor.” In Kahvi tuoksuu hyvältä, it functions as the main verb stating that the coffee gives off a good smell.
Why is there no article like “the” or “a” before kahvi?
Finnish has no articles. The noun kahvi can mean “coffee,” “the coffee,” or “a coffee” depending on context. You simply rely on other clues (word order, context) to decide specificity.
What case is hyvältä, and why isn’t it just hyvä?
hyvältä is the elative case (stem hyvä + suffix -ltä). Certain verbs of perception and sensation in Finnish—like tuoksua (“to smell of”) or kuulostaa (“to sound”)—require their complement to be in the elative. So instead of the plain adjective hyvä (“good”), you use hyvältä to express “(smells) good.”
Could I say Kahvi hyvältä tuoksuu instead of Kahvi tuoksuu hyvältä?
Yes. Finnish word order is relatively free. Placing hyvältä before tuoksuu (Kahvi hyvältä tuoksuu) adds emphasis to the “good-smelling” aspect, while Kahvi tuoksuu hyvältä is the neutral, unmarked order (Subject–Verb–Complement).
How would you ask “How does the coffee smell?” in Finnish?
Use the question word miltä (elative form of mikä, “what”) with the same verb pattern:
Miltä kahvi tuoksuu?