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Olohuone on tilava.

Olohuone on tilava.
The living room is spacious.
FromLesson 17inHardcore Finnish
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Breakdown of Olohuone on tilava.

olla
to be
olohuone
the living room
tilava
spacious

Questions & Answers about Olohuone on tilava.

Why is there no the or a before olohuone?
Finnish has no articles. Nouns stand alone without words for “the” or “a.” Definiteness or indefiniteness comes from context, not separate words.
Why is Olohuone written as one word instead of two?
Finnish builds compound words by simply joining their parts. Here olo (“state” or “condition”) + huone (“room”) → olohuone (“living room”).
How do you pronounce Olohuone on tilava, and where do you put the stress?

Break it into syllables:
O-lo-huo-ne on ti-la-va
• Primary stress always falls on the first syllable of each word (O-lo-huo-ne, ti-la-va).
• Vowels are short here; each letter is pronounced clearly.

Why does tilava not have any extra ending or inflection?
As the predicate adjective of olla (“to be”), tilava must match its subject olohuone in case and number. Both are nominative singular, so tilava stays in the nominative singular form.
How would you make this sentence negative?

Use the negative auxiliary ei plus the main verb in its negative form:
Olohuone ei ole tilava.
Here ei = third-person singular negative auxiliary, and ole = negative form of on.

How do you turn it into a question meaning “Is the living room spacious?”

Add the interrogative suffix to the verb:
Onko olohuone tilava?
Onko = on + -ko/-kö (yes/no question marker).

How do you say “Living rooms are spacious” (plural)?

Make subject, verb, and adjective plural:
Olohuoneet ovat tilavat.
• olohuoneet = “living rooms” (nominative plural)
• ovat = third-person plural of olla
• tilavat = adjective in nominative plural

What’s the difference between tilava, iso, and suuri?

• tilava = “spacious,” focuses on free space
• iso = colloquial “big”
• suuri = more formal “large” or “great”
Choice depends on nuance and register.

Where does the word tilava come from?
It’s formed from tila (“space” or “room”) + adjectival suffix -va (“having the quality of”). So tilava literally means “having space.”

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