Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tämän runokirjan otsikko on kaunis, mutta pidän myös sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta. - The title of this poetry book is beautiful, but I also like the comic’s funny title.

runokirjan is in the genitive case (ending -n) because it’s the possessor in “runokirjan otsikko” = the poetry book’s title / the title of the poetry book.
The demonstrative must agree in case with the noun, so:
- nominative: tämä runokirja = this poetry book
- genitive: tämän runokirjan otsikko = the title of this poetry book

So we say “Tämän runokirjan otsikko…”, literally this-GEN poetry-book-GEN title…

What case are “runokirjan” and “sarjakuvan”, and what do they mean in this sentence?

Both runokirjan and sarjakuvan are in the genitive singular:

runokirjan otsikko
- runokirjan = of the poetry book / the poetry book’s
- otsikko = title
  → the title of this poetry book
sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta
- sarjakuvan = of the comic / the comic’s
- hauskasta otsikosta = from/about the funny title
  → the funny title of the comic

In Finnish, the possessor is typically in genitive, placed before the noun it owns:
X:n Y = Y of X / X’s Y.

Why is it “otsikko on kaunis” and not “otsikko on kauniina”?

In Finnish, a predicate adjective (an adjective after to be) is normally in the nominative when just describing a general, permanent quality:

Otsikko on kaunis. = The title is beautiful. (general description)

“kauniina” is the essive case and adds a special nuance: as beautiful, in a beautiful role/state. For example:

Otsikko on kauniina yksityiskohtana.
= The title functions as a beautiful detail.

Here we just want a simple description (the title is beautiful), so nominative “kaunis” is correct and natural.

What exactly is happening in “mutta pidän myös sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta”?

Breakdown:

mutta = but
pidän = I like / I am fond of (1st person singular of pitää in this sense)
myös = also / too
sarjakuvan = of the comic (genitive)
hauskasta otsikosta = of/from the funny title (elative case)

The verb pitää in the sense to like is normally used with the elative case (-sta/-stä) on the thing you like:

pitää jostakin = to like something
- Pidän kahvista. = I like coffee.
- Pidän tästä kirjasta. = I like this book.

So “pidän … hauskasta otsikosta” literally is I like (the) funny title (from it), idiomatically I like the funny title. “sarjakuvan” just tells us whose title it is: the comic’s funny title.

Why is it “hauskasta otsikosta” and not “hauska otsikko” after “pidän”?

Because pitää (to like) requires the elative case (-sta/-stä) for its object:

nominative: hauska otsikko = a/the funny title
elative: hauskasta otsikosta = from/about the funny title (the form needed after pidän)

Compare:

Otsikko on hauska. = The title is funny. (nominative predicate)
Pidän hauskasta otsikosta. = I like the funny title. (elative after pidän)

So grammatically:
pidän + (jostakin) → the thing is in elative, hence hauskasta otsikosta.

Why is “hauskasta” in the same form as “otsikosta”?

Adjectives in Finnish must agree with the nouns they modify in:

case
number
(and often) definiteness / specificity via context

Here:

otsikosta is elative singular
So its adjective hauska must also be elative singular → hauskasta

Pattern:

nominative: hauska otsikko
genitive: hauskan otsikon
partitive: hauskaa otsikkoa
elative: hauskasta otsikosta

So hauskasta otsikosta is a single noun phrase in elative: from/about the funny title.

Can I change the order, for example say “hauskasta sarjakuvan otsikosta” instead?

That word order would be weird or ambiguous. The normal and clear order is:

sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta
- sarjakuvan (possessor, genitive)
- hauskasta otsikosta (the possessed thing, with its adjective)

Putting it as “hauskasta sarjakuvan otsikosta” separates the adjective from the noun it describes and makes it harder to parse. It would sound off or at least stylistically very odd to a native speaker.

General rule:
[Possessor in genitive] + [adjective(s)] + [head noun]
All of that can then be inflected for the needed case.

Can “myös” move around, and does its position change the meaning?

Yes, myös (also, too) is quite flexible, but its position affects what is being emphasized.

Some possibilities:

Pidän myös sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta.
→ Neutral; In addition (to the book’s title), I also like the comic’s funny title.
Minäkin pidän sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta. (Minäkin = I too)
→ Emphasis that I also like it (someone else likes it as well).
Pidän sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta myös.
→ Possible, but more marked; myös feels tacked on, emphasizing “also” at the very end.

In your sentence, “Pidän myös sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta” is the most natural choice for “I also like the comic’s funny title.”

Could I use “tykkään” instead of “pidän” here?

Yes, you can:

Tykkään myös sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta.

Both pitää (jostakin) and tykätä (jostakin) mean to like. Differences:

pitää is slightly more neutral / standard, often used in writing and formal speech.
tykätä is more colloquial / everyday.

Both still require elative (-sta/-stä) for the thing liked:

Pidän kahvista. / Tykkään kahvista. = I like coffee.

What’s the difference between “otsikko” and “nimi” in Finnish?

Roughly:

otsikko = title, heading (of a book, article, poem, chapter, newspaper story, web page, etc.)
nimi = name (of a person, place, thing, sometimes of a work)

In this sentence, runokirjan otsikko and sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta are about the titles of published works, so “otsikko” is the natural word.

You can sometimes say kirjan nimi (the book’s name), and that’s also common, but otsikko emphasizes its function as a title/heading.

Why doesn’t Finnish use words like “the” and “a” in this sentence?

Finnish has no articles (the, a, an). Instead, it uses:

case endings
word order
context
demonstratives like tämä, tuo, se

to express meanings that English handles with articles.

For example:

Tämän runokirjan otsikko
= the title of this poetry book
(definiteness is given by tämän and genitive structure, not by the)
sarjakuvan hauskasta otsikosta
= the funny title of the comic
Context tells us it’s a specific comic with a specific title.

So you have to infer “the/a” from context, not from a separate word.

Is “tämän” always genitive, and what are the main forms of “tämä” I should know?

Tämän is the genitive singular of tämä (this). The most important singular forms to recognize early on are:

tämä – nominative: this (one)
- Tämä kirja on hyvä. = This book is good.
tämän – genitive: of this
- Tämän kirjan otsikko… = The title of this book…
tätä – partitive: this (as object / with certain verbs)
- Luen tätä kirjaa. = I am reading this book.

There are more cases (tässä, tästä, tähän, etc.), but in your sentence tämän is simply agreeing in case with runokirjan, both genitive because they form “this poetry book’s (something)”.