Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.

In my opinion, this dress is beautiful.

Breakdown of Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• kaunis: beautiful
• minusta: I think
• mekko: the dress

Questions & Answers about Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.

Why is it minusta and not minä or minun?

Finnish often uses the elative case (the -sta/-stä form) with verbs of thinking, seeming, or feeling to express an opinion.

• minä = I (nominative, basic form)
• minun = my (genitive, possessive)
• minusta = from me / out of me (elative)

In sentences like “Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis”, the structure is:

• olla (to be) + NP
  • minusta
    • adjective

and it means “In my opinion, this dress is beautiful / I think this dress is beautiful.”

So minusta is correct because Finnish says literally “This dress is, from me, beautiful,” which idiomatically means “to me / in my view.”

What does minusta literally mean?

Literally, minusta is:

• minä (I) + -sta (elative ending “from/out of”)
• So, minusta = “from me”.

In this sentence, though, it doesn’t mean physical movement from you. Instead, it’s an idiomatic way to mark a personal opinion or evaluation:

• Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.
  Literally: This dress is beautiful from me.
  Natural English: I think this dress is beautiful / To me, this dress is beautiful.

The “from me” sense has become a grammatical way to say “in my opinion.”

What is the difference between minusta and (minun) mielestäni?

Both express an opinion, but they differ slightly in style and emphasis:

• minusta

  • Very common, short, neutral.
  • Fits naturally in everyday speech.
  • Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.

• mielestäni (or minun mielestäni)

  • Literally: “in my mind / in my opinion.”
  • Feels a bit more explicit or slightly more formal/emphatic.
  • Tämä mekko on mielestäni kaunis.
  • Minun mielestäni tämä mekko on kaunis.

In most situations, you can use either without changing the basic meaning.
minusta is just shorter and very typical in casual speech.

How would this sentence look with other persons (you, he/she, etc.)?

You change minusta according to the person:

• Minusta = in my opinion
• Sinusta = in your opinion
• Hänestä = in his/her opinion
• Meistä = in our opinion
• Teistä = in your (plural/formal) opinion
• Heistä = in their opinion

Examples:

• Sinusta tämä mekko on kaunis.
  You think this dress is beautiful.

• Hänestä tämä mekko on kaunis.
  He/She thinks this dress is beautiful.

Word order can also be the same as in the original:

• Tämä mekko on sinusta kaunis.
• Tämä mekko on hänestä kaunis.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say “Minusta tämä mekko on kaunis”?

Yes. Both are correct:

• Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.
• Minusta tämä mekko on kaunis.

The differences are about emphasis and flow, not grammar:

• Starting with Minusta highlights your opinion:
  Minusta tämä mekko on kaunis.
  → “I, personally, think this dress is beautiful.”

• Starting with Tämä mekko highlights the dress:
  Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.
  → “This dress, in my opinion, is beautiful.”

In ordinary conversation, both versions are very natural.

Is minusta necessary, or could I just say “Tämä mekko on kaunis”?

You can just say:

• Tämä mekko on kaunis.
  → “This dress is beautiful.”

This is a straight statement of fact.

Adding minusta makes it explicitly subjective:

• Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.
  → “I think this dress is beautiful / To me, this dress is beautiful.”

In many situations, Finnish speakers add minusta / mielestäni to sound modest, polite, or to stress that it’s only their personal view.

Why is it mekko and kaunis (both basic forms) and not something like mekon or kaunista?

This is the normal predicate structure with olla (“to be”):

• Tämä mekko = subject in nominative (basic form)
• on = verb “to be”
• kaunis = predicate adjective, also in nominative

Rule of thumb:
When you say something is something (and you’re talking about a specific, whole thing), both parts are in the basic form:

• Tämä mekko on kaunis. – This dress is beautiful.
• Helsinki on iso. – Helsinki is big.
• Auto on kallis. – The car is expensive.

You’d use other cases (like the partitive kaunista) in different, more nuanced meanings (e.g. “it is beautiful in some respect / to some extent”), but the normal descriptive sentence uses nominative: mekko – kaunis.

Is minusta always about opinions, or can it have other meanings?

Minusta has two main uses:

1. Opinion / evaluation (as in your sentence)

   • Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis.
     → In my opinion, this dress is beautiful.

2. Literal “from me / out of me / about me”

   • Otatko kirjan minusta? – Are you taking the book from me? (context-dependent)
   • Mitä mieltä olet minusta? – What do you think about me?

Context makes the meaning clear.
In a structure like “X on minusta adjektiv(i)”, it is understood as “in my opinion”.

Can minusta + adjective be used with other things, not just dresses?

Yes, this is a very general pattern in Finnish:

• Se on minusta kallis. – I think it’s expensive.
• Elokuva oli minusta tylsä. – I found the movie boring.
• Suomi on minusta kaunis maa. – Finland is (in my opinion) a beautiful country.
• Tämä ruoka on minusta hyvää. – I think this food is good.

So your sentence fits a very common template:
[Thing] + on + minusta + [adjective].

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral in tone?

“Tämä mekko on minusta kaunis” is neutral and natural. It works fine in:

• everyday conversation,
• polite speech with strangers,
• semi-formal contexts (e.g. commenting in a shop).

It’s not slangy, and not overly formal.
If you wanted slightly more formal or careful speech, you might choose:

• Minun mielestäni tämä mekko on kaunis.
  but even then, minusta is still perfectly acceptable.