Tämä maalaus on värikäs.

This painting is colorful.

Breakdown of Tämä maalaus on värikäs.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• värikäs: colorful
• maalaus: the painting

Questions & Answers about Tämä maalaus on värikäs.

Why doesn’t the Finnish sentence use an article like “a” or “the”?

Finnish has no articles at all. There is no direct equivalent of a / an / the.

Definiteness (whether you mean “a painting” or “the painting”) is understood from:

• context
• word order
• sometimes from using demonstratives like tämä (this), se (that / it), tuo (that over there)

So:

• Tämä maalaus on värikäs.
  = This painting is colourful.

The word tämä already makes it specific, so nothing like “the” is needed.

What case is maalaus in, and why doesn’t it have any ending?

Maalaus is in the nominative singular form.

In Finnish, the basic dictionary form of a noun is the nominative singular, and it usually shows no special ending.

In X is Y sentences (copula sentences) like this:

• The subject is in nominative: tämä maalaus
• The adjective describing it is also in nominative: värikäs

So you get:

• Tämä maalaus (nominative subject)
• on (is)
• värikäs (nominative predicative adjective)

No extra case endings are needed here.

What exactly is on, and how does it change with different subjects?

On is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb olla (to be).

Present tense of olla:

• minä olen – I am
• sinä olet – you are (singular)
• hän on – he / she / it is
• me olemme – we are
• te olette – you are (plural / formal)
• he ovat – they are

So in Tämä maalaus on värikäs, the subject tämä maalaus behaves like “it” in English, so you use on (“is”).

Why is it tämä and not se or tuo? What’s the difference?

All three can be translated as “this / that”, but they have different typical uses:

• tämä – this, usually something physically close to the speaker or very clearly pointed out

  • Tämä maalaus on värikäs. – This painting (right here) is colourful.

• tuo – that (over there), usually visible but a bit farther away

  • Tuo maalaus on värikäs. – That painting (over there) is colourful.

• se – that / it, often previously mentioned or not in immediate focus, more like English “it/that” in normal conversation

  • Se maalaus on värikäs. – That painting is colourful. / The painting is colourful.

In a textbook example with something close to you, tämä is the most straightforward choice.

Why is the adjective värikäs and not värikästä or värikkäät?

In this sentence, värikäs is:

• an adjective
• in nominative singular
• agreeing with maalaus (also nominative singular)

In Finnish, in simple “X is Y” descriptions with a singular subject, the adjective is also nominative singular:

• Maalaus on värikäs. – The painting is colourful.
• Auto on punainen. – The car is red.
• Kahvi on kuuma. – The coffee is hot.

Other forms you might see:

• värikästä – partitive singular, used in other structures (e.g. Näen värikästä maalausta. – I see a colourful painting.)
• värikkäät – nominative plural, used with plural subjects (e.g. Nämä maalaukset ovat värikkäät. – These paintings are colourful.)

But in Tämä maalaus on värikäs, värikäs correctly matches the singular subject in nominative.

How would I say “These paintings are colourful” in Finnish?

Two natural options:

1. Nämä maalaukset ovat värikkäitä.

   • nämä – these
   • maalaukset – paintings (nominative plural)
   • ovat – are
   • värikkäitä – colourful (partitive plural)

2. Nämä maalaukset ovat värikkäät.

   • värikkäät – colourful (nominative plural)

Both are grammatically correct. For describing a general quality, Finnish very often uses the partitive plural predicative:

• Nämä maalaukset ovat värikkäitä. is the most typical sounding.

Using värikkäät (nominative plural) puts a bit more emphasis on “this whole set of paintings as a specific group”, but that nuance is subtle and often not crucial for learners.

Can I say “Tämä värikäs maalaus” instead, and how is that different from “Tämä maalaus on värikäs”?

Yes, both are correct but they have different structures:

• Tämä maalaus on värikäs.

  • Full sentence: subject + verb + predicate
  • Literally: This painting is colourful.
  • värikäs is the predicate adjective, making a full statement.

• Tämä värikäs maalaus

  • Just a noun phrase, not a full sentence (no verb).
  • Literally: this colourful painting.
  • värikäs is an attributive adjective in front of the noun.

So:

• Tämä maalaus on värikäs. – You’re saying something about the painting.
• Tämä värikäs maalaus – You’re just identifying or referring to the painting; you’d usually continue with something:
  
  • Tämä värikäs maalaus on kallis. – This colourful painting is expensive.

How do I pronounce ä in words like tämä and värikäs?

The letter ä in Finnish is a front vowel, similar to:

• the “a” in English “cat”, but usually a bit cleaner and tenser, without diphthong.
• IPA: [æ]

In the sentence:

• tämä → [ˈtæ.mæ]
• värikäs → [ˈʋæ.ri.kæs] (Finnish v is closer to [ʋ], between v and w)

Also note:

• Stress is always on the first syllable in standard Finnish:
  • TÄ-mä MAA-laus ON VÄ-ri-käs

Why is the word for “painting” maalaus and not taulu? What’s the difference?

Both can refer to something you might call a painting in English, but they have slightly different typical uses:

• maalaus

  • literally “a thing that has been painted”
  • focuses more on the painting as an artwork or act of painting
  • used in more general or art-related contexts
  • e.g. Tämä maalaus on kuuluisa. – This painting is famous.

• taulu

  • literally “board / panel / framed picture”
  • often means a picture or painting on a wall, especially a framed one
  • e.g. Seinä on täynnä tauluja. – The wall is full of pictures/paintings.

In Tämä maalaus on värikäs, the focus is on the painting as an artwork and its colours, so maalaus is a natural choice.