Breakdown of Tämän kirjan hinta on nyt alennettu.
olla
to be
tämä
this
nyt
now
kirja
the book
hinta
the price
alennettu
reduced
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Questions & Answers about Tämän kirjan hinta on nyt alennettu.
Why are tämän and kirjan in the genitive case?
The genitive (-n ending) marks possession in Finnish. Both tämän (the demonstrative tämä) and kirjan (from kirja, “book”) take the genitive to form tämän kirjan, literally “of this book.”
Why is hinta not in the genitive like kirjan, but stays in the nominative?
hinta is the head noun of the phrase and functions as the subject/theme of the sentence. In Finnish possessor constructions, only the possessor takes the genitive; the possessed noun remains in the case required by its syntactic role (here, the nominative).
What role does on play in hinta on nyt alennettu?
on is the third-person singular present of olla (“to be”). Together with the passive past participle alennettu, it forms the passive perfect tense, equivalent to English “has been reduced.”
What exactly is alennettu, and how is it formed?
alennettu is the passive past participle of the verb alentaa (“to reduce”). When you combine olla in present tense (on) with this participle, you get the perfect passive: on alennettu (“has been reduced,” without stating who reduced it).
Why is the passive perfect used here instead of an active construction?
Finnish commonly uses the impersonal passive in announcements and notices to focus on the result rather than on the agent. An active version would name the doer (e.g. Myyjä alensi hinnan – “The seller reduced the price”), but in sales contexts the passive is more typical and neutral.
What does nyt mean, and can it be moved around in the sentence?
nyt means “now.” Finnish word order is quite flexible, so you could also say:
- Tämän kirjan hinta on alennettu nyt.
- Nyt tämän kirjan hinta on alennettu.
All versions mean “The price of this book has now been reduced.”
Why isn’t there an article like “the” before hinta or kirja?
Finnish does not have articles (“a,” “an,” or “the”). Definiteness and specificity are shown by context or by demonstratives like tämä (“this”). Here, tämän already indicates it’s a specific book.