Learn Hardcore Finnish: Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.

Which English article you choose is decided by context, not by any change in the Finnish sentence itself. The Finnish grammar doesn’t encode definiteness/indefiniteness the way English does.

Does Suomalainen elokuva mean a Finnish film, the Finnish film, or Finnish cinema?

It can mean any of those, depending on context:

a Finnish film
- Talking about one unspecified movie:
  - Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.
    → A Finnish film is interesting.
the Finnish film
- Talking about a specific movie that both speakers already know:
  - Se suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava. (That Finnish film is interesting.)
  - Often just Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava would be understood as the Finnish film is interesting if context is clear.
Finnish cinema (as a whole)
- Describing the national cinema generally:
  - Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.
    → Finnish cinema is interesting.

So the phrase itself is structurally singular, but it can be interpreted generically (“Finnish cinema in general”) if the context suggests that.

Why is suomalainen before elokuva, but kiinnostava comes after on?

Because they have different grammatical roles:

suomalainen elokuva
- suomalainen is an attributive adjective; it modifies the noun elokuva directly.
- Together they form the subject of the sentence: “a Finnish film”.
on kiinnostava
- on is the verb olla (to be), here in 3rd person singular: is.
- kiinnostava is a predicative adjective; it describes the subject via olla:
  - elokuva on kiinnostava → the film is interesting.

So the pattern is:

[adjective] + [noun] = subject → Suomalainen elokuva
on = linking verb is
[adjective] as a complement → kiinnostava (interesting)

Why is it kiinnostava and not kiinnostavaa here?

Both kiinnostava and kiinnostavaa can exist, but they are different cases:

kiinnostava = nominative singular adjective
kiinnostavaa = partitive singular form (often used as a predicative in more nuanced meanings)

In Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava, the default and most straightforward way to say “A Finnish film is interesting” is to use the nominative:

Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.
→ A clear statement of a property.

You could also hear:

Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostavaa.

This partitive form often feels a bit more subjective or like you’re speaking of the quality in an indefinite / “there is interestingness in it” way (similar to “rather interesting / somewhat interesting” depending on context).

For learners, it’s safe to use kiinnostava as the basic form here. The partitive predicative nuances are more advanced.

If I want to say “Finnish films are interesting” (plural), how does the sentence change?

You make both the noun and the verb plural, and typically use the partitive plural for the predicative adjective:

Suomalaiset elokuvat ovat kiinnostavia.
- Suomalaiset = plural of suomalainen (Finnish, plural)
- elokuvat = plural of elokuva (films)
- ovat = plural of on (are)
- kiinnostavia = partitive plural of kiinnostava

Meaning: Finnish films are interesting.

(You might also see Suomalaiset elokuvat ovat kiinnostavat, but that tends to emphasise a specific known set of films as the ones that are interesting. …ovat kiinnostavia is more neutral and common.)

Why isn’t Suomalainen capitalised, even though Finnish is capitalised in English?

In Finnish, nationality / language adjectives are not capitalised:

suomalainen = Finnish (person or adjective)
englanti = English (language)
ranska = French (language)

So you write:

suomalainen elokuva
englanninkielinen kirja (English-language book)

In English, we capitalise Finnish, English, French, etc., but in Finnish this is not done unless the word is at the beginning of a sentence or is part of a proper name.

What is the dictionary form of suomalainen, and how does it behave as an adjective?

The dictionary form is suomalainen (ending in -nen). Adjectives ending in -nen have a special pattern:

Nominative singular: suomalainen
Genitive singular: suomalaisen
Partitive singular: suomalaista
Inessive (in): suomalaisessa (e.g. suomalaisessa elokuvassa = in a Finnish film)

Notice that -nen changes to -se- in other forms:

suomalainen → suomalaisen, suomalaisessa, etc.

As an adjective, suomalainen agrees in case and often in number with the noun:

suomalainen elokuva (nominative singular)
suomalaisen elokuvan juoni (genitive singular: the plot of a Finnish film)
suomalaisessa elokuvassa (inessive singular: in a Finnish film)
suomalaisia elokuvia (partitive plural: Finnish films in some contexts)

What is the -va ending in kiinnostava? Is it just an adjective ending?

The -va / -vä ending here is actually a present active participle of a verb.

Verb: kiinnostaa = to interest
Present participle: kiinnostava = interesting (literally: that which interests)

This is a very common way to create adjectives from verbs:

väsyttää (to tire, to make tired) → väsynyt (tired; past participle)
naurattaa (to make laugh) → naurattava (laugh-inducing, funny)
houkuttaa (to tempt) → houkutteleva (tempting)

So kiinnostava is grammatically a participle, but functionally it works like a regular adjective meaning interesting.

Can I change the word order, for example to Kiinnostava suomalainen elokuva on?

Finnish word order is more flexible than English, but not all permutations sound natural.

Some patterns:

Basic neutral order (recommended):
- Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.
  → Subject – Verb – Predicative.
Topicalisation / emphasis is possible, especially in speech or stylised writing:
- Kiinnostava on suomalainen elokuva.
  - Emphasises kiinnostava: Interesting is (the) Finnish film.
- Kiinnostava suomalainen elokuva on.
  - This sounds odd or incomplete in most normal contexts; it would need something after it (e.g. Kiinnostava suomalainen elokuva on harvinaista herkkua. = An interesting Finnish film is a rare treat.)

So yes, you can move elements for emphasis, but for clear, neutral language you should keep:

Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.

How do you pronounce Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava?

Key points:

Stress is always on the first syllable of each word in Finnish.
- SUO-ma-lai-nen
- E-lo-ku-va
- ON
- KII-nnos-ta-va
Syllable breakdown:
- suo–ma–lai–nen
- e–lo–ku–va
- on
- kiin–nos–ta–va
Long sounds:
- kii has a long i (written ii)
- nn in kiinnostava is a long n; hold the n slightly longer than in English.
Vowels are pure and separate; don’t blur them like in English.
- elo is like “eh-loh”, not like “eluh”.
- suo is roughly like “swoh” (Finnish uo is a diphthong).

So a rough English-friendly guide:

SUO-ma-lai-nen E-lo-ku-va ON KII-nnos-ta-va

Why is the verb on and not something else? Do verbs agree with the subject like in English?

Yes, Finnish verbs agree with the subject in person and number, somewhat like in English but more systematically.

The verb here is olla (to be). Its present tense forms are:

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

In Suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava:

The subject suomalainen elokuva is third person singular.
So the correct form of olla is on (is).

If the subject were plural:

Suomalaiset elokuvat ovat kiinnostavia.
- elokuvat = plural, so the verb is ovat (are).

How would I say “A Finnish film is not interesting”?

Finnish uses a separate negative verb plus the main verb in a special form:

Suomalainen elokuva ei ole kiinnostava.
- ei = negative verb for 3rd person singular
- ole = basic form of olla used with the negative
- kiinnostava stays the same (adjective)

Pattern:

[Subject] + ei + ole + [adjective].

Examples:

Elokuva ei ole kiinnostava. → The film is not interesting.
Tämä ei ole suomalainen elokuva. → This is not a Finnish film.

If I add another adjective like old, where would it go?

Additional adjectives that directly modify the noun go before the noun, in a row:

vanha suomalainen elokuva on kiinnostava.
- vanha = old
- suomalainen = Finnish
- elokuva = film
- → An old Finnish film is interesting.

All attributive adjectives usually come before the noun and must match the noun in case and (usually) number:

vanhaa suomalaista elokuvaa (partitive singular)
vanhat suomalaiset elokuvat (nominative plural)

The predicative adjective (kiinnostava) follows the olla verb, as before.