Learn Hardcore Finnish: Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta. - The friend is excited about the movie.

Base form: elokuva = movie / film
Elative singular: elokuvasta = from (the) movie, out of the movie, or more idiomatically here about the movie

The elative (-sta / -stä) often means:

movement out of something:
- talosta = from (out of) the house
or “about / concerning” something with certain verbs and adjectives, including innostua / innostunut.

So innostunut elokuvasta literally is “excited from/about the movie,” which we translate as “excited about the movie.”

Why is it elokuvasta and not elokuvaa after innostunut?

The verb innostua (to get excited / enthusiastic) and its participle innostunut usually take the elative case (jostakin, “about something”), not partitive:

innostua jostakin = to get excited / enthusiastic about something
- innostunut elokuvasta = excited about the movie
- innostunut matkasta = excited about the trip

The partitive elokuvaa would not be correct here. With this verb, elative is the normal, idiomatic choice.

Is innostunut a past tense? What form is it exactly?

Innostunut is not a finite past tense; it is a past participle (more precisely, the active past participle) of the verb innostua.

Verb: innostua = to become excited / enthusiastic
Past participle: innostunut = (having) become excited → used like an adjective: excited

When you combine the verb olla (to be) with this participle:

on innostunut = is excited / has become excited and is now excited

So on innostunut is grammatically “is (one who has become excited),” but in normal English we just say “is excited.”

What’s the difference between on innostunut and innostui?

Both relate to innostua, but they focus on different things.

innostui = simple past event: became excited
- Ystävä innostui elokuvasta.
  = The friend became excited about the movie (at that time).
on innostunut = present state resulting from a past event: has become and is now excited
- Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta.
  = The friend is excited about the movie (and that excitement is still relevant now).

So:

innostui → what happened.
on innostunut → the resulting state we see now.

Do we really need on here? Could we just say Ystävä innostunut elokuvasta?

In normal, full sentences, Finnish needs a finite verb, so on is required:

Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta. ✅ (standard sentence)

Without on, it sounds like a headline, a note, or very telegraphic language:

Ystävä innostunut elokuvasta.
→ Possible as a newspaper headline or a shorthand note, but not a normal spoken/written sentence.

So for regular speech and writing, you should keep on.

Why are there no words like “a” or “the” before ystävä or elokuva?

Finnish has no articles like English a/an or the. The noun ystävä by itself can correspond to:

a friend
the friend
sometimes my friend / our friend, depending on context

Similarly, elokuvasta can be understood as:

about a movie
about the movie
about that movie

Definiteness and specificity are understood from context, not from a separate word like “the”.

How do I say “My friend is excited about the movie” in Finnish?

There are a couple of natural ways:

With a possessive suffix only (very common and natural):
- Ystäväni on innostunut elokuvasta.
  = My friend is excited about the movie.
With both a pronoun and a possessive suffix (emphatic or very clear):
- Minun ystäväni on innostunut elokuvasta.
  Literally: My friend (of mine) is excited about the movie.

In everyday speech, Ystäväni on innostunut elokuvasta is usually enough, and the context makes it clear that you mean my friend.

Does ystävä ever mean a boyfriend/girlfriend, or is it only a platonic friend?

Ystävä by itself usually means a friend in the normal, platonic sense.

For romantic partners, Finnish typically uses:

poikaystävä = boyfriend
tyttöystävä = girlfriend
kumppani / partneri = (gender-neutral) partner

So Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta is understood as The friend is excited about the movie, not specifically as a romantic partner.

How do you pronounce ystävä and elokuvasta, and where is the stress?

In Finnish, stress is always on the first syllable of a word.

ystävä → YS-tä-vä
- y = a front rounded vowel (like French u in tu or German ü in Tür)
- ä = like a in English cat
- Stress on YS
elokuvasta → E-lo-ku-vas-ta
- Each vowel is clearly pronounced; Finnish vowels are not reduced.
- Stress on E

So together:

YStävä on ELOkuvasta innostunut
(with primary stress on YS- and E-, secondary rhythm falls regularly every second syllable or so).

Can innostunut be used directly as an adjective before a noun, like “an excited friend”?

Yes. Innostunut is a participle that functions very much like an adjective.

Examples:

innostunut ystävä = an excited friend
innostunut yleisö = an excited audience
innostunut opiskelija = an enthusiastic/excited student

So you can say either:

Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta.
= The friend is excited about the movie.

innostunut ystävä elokuvasta (in context, e.g. as part of a longer phrase)
= a friend who is excited about the movie.

What’s the difference between innostunut and innoissaan in sentences like this?

Both can express “excited / enthusiastic,” but they’re slightly different:

innostunut
- Past participle → more clearly “has become excited,” often a bit more formal or neutral.
- Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta.
  = The friend is excited about the movie.
innoissaan
- A special adverb-like form with a possessive suffix (innoissaan, innoissani, innoissamme, etc.).
- More colloquial-sounding and very common in speech.
- Ystävä on innoissaan elokuvasta.
  = The friend is really excited about the movie.

Meaning-wise, they’re close; stylistically, innoissaan often feels a bit more lively or emotionally coloured.

Can we change the word order, like Elokuvasta ystävä on innostunut? Does the meaning change?

Yes, Finnish allows quite flexible word order, and changes mostly affect emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Neutral / default:
- Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta.
  → Focus on the friend as subject.
Emphasis on elokuvasta (the movie):
- Elokuvasta ystävä on innostunut.
  → Roughly: It’s the movie that the friend is excited about (maybe in contrast to something else).

You generally keep on next to its subject, so forms like:

Ystävä elokuvasta on innostunut

sound less natural. The safest, most neutral order for learners is the original:

Ystävä on innostunut elokuvasta.