Questions & Answers about Takin väri on sininen.
Takki means coat in its basic dictionary form (nominative singular).
In Takin väri on sininen, the word takin is the genitive singular of takki and means of the coat or the coat’s.
Finnish uses the genitive case (often ending in -n) to express possession or an “of X” relationship:
- takki → takin = coat → of the coat / the coat’s
- kissa → kissan = cat → of the cat / the cat’s
So takin väri literally means the coat’s color or the color of the coat.
This is an example of consonant gradation, a regular sound change in Finnish. Many words with kk, pp, tt in the basic form have a “weaker” grade (k, p, t) in certain cases, including the genitive singular.
Here:
- Basic form (strong grade): takki (kk)
- Genitive singular (weak grade): takin (k)
Consonant gradation patterns like this are common:
- pukki → pukin (goat → of the goat)
- hattu → hatun (hat → of the hat)
- kappa → kavan (if it followed that pattern, hypothetically)
So it’s not takk in, but takin, with kk → k and the genitive -n added.
Väri means color and here it’s in the nominative singular (basic form).
The phrase takin väri is a noun + noun structure:
- takin = of the coat / the coat’s (genitive)
- väri = color (nominative)
Together: takin väri = the coat’s color / the color of the coat.
Then the sentence is:
- Takin väri (subject)
- on (verb “to be”)
- sininen (predicative adjective: blue)
So väri is the main noun and takin tells whose color it is.
In this sentence, the standard, natural form is sininen (nominative).
- Takin väri on sininen. = The coat’s color is blue. (a clear, definite quality)
The partitive form sinistä would sound odd here, because väri is a countable, specific quality in this context. You’re identifying which color it is, so the nominative sininen matches that.
Rough rule of thumb:
- Use nominative (here sininen) when stating a clear, complete identity or quality:
- Pallo on punainen. = The ball is red.
- Vesi on kylmää vs Vesi on kylmä: there’s nuance, but for color of a specific item, nominative is the default.
- Use partitive (sinistä) often for:
- “Some of the blue (color)” as a substance: Tarvitsen sinistä. = I need some blue (paint/ink etc.).
- Incomplete quantities, ongoing actions, uncertain states, etc.
For “The coat’s color is blue,” sininen is the correct choice.
Finnish generally puts the possessor (the owner) in genitive before the thing that is owned:
- takin väri = the coat’s color
- koiran häntä = the dog’s tail
- talon ovi = the house’s door
So the natural word order is:
- Takin (possessor, genitive)
- väri (thing possessed)
- on
- sininen
Putting väri before takin, as in väri takin, would sound wrong/unnatural and doesn’t follow the usual pattern for possession in Finnish.
Yes, you can, and it’s a very common sentence:
- Takki on sininen. = The coat is blue.
The difference is subtle but real:
Takki on sininen.
- Focus: the coat itself is blue. You’re describing the coat.
Takin väri on sininen.
- Focus: the color of the coat is blue. You’re explicitly talking about its color as a property.
In many everyday contexts both would convey almost the same idea, but Takin väri on sininen is more “technical” or explicit about color as a concept.
In Takin väri on sininen, on is the third person singular form of the verb olla = to be. So on = is.
Finnish often omits a separate verb in the present tense for the first and second person singular and plural when the verb is olla and it’s clearly understood:
- Minä (olen) opettaja. = I am a teacher.
- Sinä (olet) väsynyt. = You are tired.
The verb can still be included (and often is in written or careful speech), but it can be left out.
However, for the third person (he / she / it / they), the verb on is normally not omitted:
- Hän on opettaja. = He/She is a teacher.
- Talo on iso. = The house is big.
- Takin väri on sininen. = The coat’s color is blue.
So in this sentence on must be there.
Finnish has no articles (no “a/an” or “the”). Whether something is definite or indefinite is usually understood from:
- Context: Are you already talking about a particular coat? Then it’s understood as the coat.
- Word order and emphasis.
- Sometimes the use of pronouns or other structures.
Takin väri on sininen can be translated as:
- The coat’s color is blue.
- A coat’s color is blue. (less common as a generic statement, but grammatically not impossible)
English must choose between “a” and “the,” but Finnish doesn’t; one Finnish sentence often maps to both possibilities, and context decides which English article fits best.
For many nouns ending in -i, there are patterns. Takki is actually a -kk i word; but the key points you see here are:
- Add -n for the genitive singular.
- Apply consonant gradation if the word has it (like kk → k).
Examples:
- takki → takin (coat → of the coat)
- kukka → kukan (flower → of the flower; kk → k)
- hattu → hatun (hat → of the hat; tt → t)
- pappi → papin (priest → of the priest; pp → p)
The exact pattern can vary depending on the word type, but for many everyday nouns, you see:
- Ending -i stays i in the genitive, then you attach -n, plus any necessary consonant gradation.
Grammatically, sininen agrees with väri.
- väri = color (singular, nominative)
- sininen = blue (singular, nominative, matching väri)
The subject of the sentence is takin väri (the coat’s color). Even though this whole phrase semantically points to the coat, grammatically the “thing that is blue” is väri, so the adjective sininen is in the form that matches väri (singular, nominative).
If the subject were takki, we would still have:
- Takki on sininen.
Here sininen is now agreeing with takki, which is also singular, nominative. The form ends up the same in both cases, but it agrees with a different noun in each sentence.