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Tämä laukku on kevyt.

Tämä laukku on kevyt.
This bag is light.
FromLesson 16inHardcore Finnish
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Breakdown of Tämä laukku on kevyt.

olla
to be
tämä
this
laukku
the bag
kevyt
light

Questions & Answers about Tämä laukku on kevyt.

Can you break down Tämä laukku on kevyt word by word?

Tämä = “this” (demonstrative pronoun, nominative singular)
laukku = “bag” (noun, nominative singular)
on = “is” (3rd person singular of olla, “to be”)
kevyt = “light” (adjective used predicatively, nominative singular)

Why isn’t there a word for a or the in this sentence?
Finnish has no separate indefinite or definite articles. English “a” or “the” simply isn’t expressed as a separate word. Context or demonstratives (like tämä, “this”) provide any needed definiteness.
What case are laukku and kevyt in, and why?
Both are in the nominative singular. laukku is the subject of the sentence, and kevyt is the predicative complement of the verb on. In Finnish, both subject and predicate noun/adjective stay in the nominative case with olla.
Why isn’t kevyt inflected (e.g. kevytä, kevyttä) like partitives?
Adjectives following olla (as a predicative) take the nominative form, not the partitive. You’d only see partitive (kevyttä) if you were describing an ongoing action or partial object, not a static description with olla.
What part of speech is tämä, and how do I choose between tämä, tuo, and se?

tämä is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this (one here).”
tuo = “that (one there, a bit farther away)”
se = “it” or “that” (more neutral, often used for things already mentioned).
Use tämä for something close to you, tuo for something a bit farther, se when referring back to something or in casual speech.

How do you ask “Is this bag light?” in Finnish?

Invert on and tämä and add the question marker -ko:
Onko tämä laukku kevyt?

How do you negate the sentence “This bag is light”?

Use the negative auxiliary verb ei and keep the main verb in the form ole:
Tämä laukku ei ole kevyt.

How would I say “My bag is light”?

Attach the 1st-person singular possessive suffix -ni to laukku:
Laukkuni on kevyt.
Or add minun for emphasis: Minun laukkuni on kevyt.

How would you express “These bags are light” in plural?

Pluralize noun and adjective, and use the 3rd-person plural ovat:
Nämä laukut ovat kevyet.

What if I want to say “This bag is very light”?

Insert an intensifier like todella (“really”) or erittäin (“very”):
Tämä laukku on todella kevyt.
Tämä laukku on erittäin kevyt.

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