Tämä kampaus on kaunis.

This hairstyle is beautiful.

Breakdown of Tämä kampaus on kaunis.

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• kaunis: beautiful
• kampaus: the hairstyle

Questions & Answers about Tämä kampaus on kaunis.

What does each word in Tämä kampaus on kaunis mean, and what are their grammatical roles?

Word‑by‑word:

• Tämä

  • Meaning: this
  • Type: demonstrative pronoun (used here as a determiner before a noun)
  • Case/number: nominative singular
  • Function: points to a specific hairstyle; together with kampaus it forms the subject phrase tämä kampaus (this hairstyle).

• kampaus

  • Meaning: hairstyle / hairdo
  • Type: noun
  • Case/number: nominative singular (the dictionary form)
  • Function: the head of the subject noun phrase tämä kampaus (this hairstyle).

• on

  • Meaning: is
  • Type: verb, 3rd person singular, present tense of olla (to be)
  • Function: the main verb (copula) linking the subject to the describing word.

• kaunis

  • Meaning: beautiful
  • Type: adjective
  • Case/number: nominative singular
  • Function: predicative adjective describing the subject (is beautiful).

So the structure is:
Subject: tämä kampaus → Verb: on → Predicative adjective: kaunis.

Why is there no word for a or the in this Finnish sentence?

Finnish does not have articles like English a / an or the at all.

Definiteness and specificity are expressed by:

• Context:
  
  • Kampaus on kaunis. → could be A hairstyle is beautiful or The hairstyle is beautiful, depending on context.
• Demonstratives such as tämä, se, tuo:
  
  • Tämä kampaus → clearly this hairstyle (definite and specific).
  • Se kampaus → that hairstyle / the hairstyle (we mentioned).

In Tämä kampaus on kaunis, tämä already gives the specificity that English would show with this and often with the. No extra article is needed or possible.

Could Tämä kampaus on kaunis also be understood as This is a beautiful hairstyle? What is the difference between Tämä kampaus on kaunis and Tämä on kaunis kampaus?

Both Finnish sentences are very close in meaning, but the structure and nuance differ slightly.

1. Tämä kampaus on kaunis.

   • Literal: This hairstyle is beautiful.
   • Subject is the full noun phrase tämä kampaus (this hairstyle).
   • You are talking about a specific hairstyle that both people can see or have in mind.
   • Focus: more on the quality beautiful of that known hairstyle.

2. Tämä on kaunis kampaus.

   • Literal: This is a beautiful hairstyle.
   • Subject is tämä (this).
   • Kaunis kampaus is the predicative noun phrase (a beautiful hairstyle).
   • This often feels a bit more like classification: “What is this? It is a beautiful hairstyle.”
   • You might say this when presenting or evaluating one hairstyle among several.

In practice, in a typical real‑world context, both could be translated as either:

• This hairstyle is beautiful.
• This is a beautiful hairstyle.

Context and emphasis decide which English wording sounds most natural, but grammatically they are slightly different patterns.

What is the difference between tämä, tuo, and se? Could I say Tuo kampaus on kaunis or Se kampaus on kaunis?

All three are demonstratives, but they differ in distance and discourse role.

• tämä = this (near the speaker)

  • Physically close to the speaker, or mentally being pointed out strongly right now.
  • Tämä kampaus on kaunis. → This hairstyle is beautiful.

• tuo = that (over there)

  • Something farther away (often visible, but not close).
  • Tuo kampaus on kaunis. → That hairstyle (over there) is beautiful.

• se = it / that (often previously known or already mentioned)

  • Used for things known from the context or earlier in the conversation; not necessarily about physical distance.
  • Se kampaus on kaunis. → That hairstyle / The hairstyle (we talked about) is beautiful.

So:

• You can say Tuo kampaus on kaunis and Se kampaus on kaunis; they are both correct but imply different kinds of “that”.
• tämä is the most natural for something you are just now pointing at or referring to right next to you.

Why is the verb on used here, and how does olla (“to be”) conjugate?

On is the 3rd person singular present tense form of olla (to be).

The full present‑tense conjugation of olla is:

• minä olen – I am
• sinä olet – you are (singular, informal)
• hän on – he/she is
• se on – it is
• me olemme – we are
• te olette – you are (plural or polite)
• he ovat – they are
• ne ovat – they are (for things/animals in spoken language)

In Tämä kampaus on kaunis:

• The subject tämä kampaus is 3rd person singular (a single hairstyle).
• Therefore the correct verb form is on (is).

If you put it in the past tense, you use oli (3rd singular past):

• Tämä kampaus oli kaunis. – This hairstyle was beautiful.

Does the adjective kaunis need to “agree” with kampaus? Why isn’t it kaunista or something else?

Yes, Finnish adjectives do agree with the noun in case and number, but what you see here is the agreeing form.

In Tämä kampaus on kaunis:

• kampaus is nominative singular (subject).
• As a predicative adjective after olla, kaunis also appears in nominative singular.
• So kaunis is already the correct agreeing form.

Other forms you might see:

• As an attributive adjective before the noun (still nominative singular):
  
  • kaunis kampaus – a beautiful hairstyle.
• In partitive singular (used in other structures):
  
  • kaunista:
    
    • Etsin kaunista kampausta. – I am looking for a beautiful hairstyle.
      (Here both kaunista and kampausta are partitive singular because of the verb etsiä.)

So there is no missing ending; kaunis is already correctly matched to a nominative singular subject.

How flexible is the word order? Can I say Kampaus on kaunis or Kaunis on tämä kampaus?

Finnish word order is more flexible than English, but changes in order usually change emphasis or style, not basic grammar.

• Tämä kampaus on kaunis.
  Neutral, most common word order here. Subject → verb → predicative.

• Kampaus on kaunis.

  • Grammatically fine.
  • Now you are talking about a hairstyle in general or a previously known specific hairstyle.
  • It translates as The hairstyle is beautiful or Hairstyles are beautiful depending on context.

• Kaunis on tämä kampaus.

  • Also grammatical but more poetic or emphatic.
  • Emphasises kaunis: “Beautiful, this hairstyle (is).”

In everyday speech, Tämä kampaus on kaunis is the most neutral, natural way to say it when you want to include tämä.

How do I turn Tämä kampaus on kaunis into a yes–no question like Is this hairstyle beautiful?

You form a yes–no question in Finnish by adding the clitic -ko / -kö to a word (usually the verb) and using question intonation.

For this sentence:

• Onko tämä kampaus kaunis?
  
  • on
    • ko → onko
  • Meaning: Is this hairstyle beautiful?

Possible answers:

• On. – Yes (it is).
• Ei ole. – No (it is not).

You could, in special contexts, attach -ko to another word for emphasis (e.g. Tämäkö kampaus on kaunis? = “Is it this hairstyle that is beautiful?”), but the neutral question is Onko tämä kampaus kaunis?

How do I say This hairstyle is not beautiful in Finnish?

Finnish uses a special negative verb ei plus the main verb in a form called the “connegative”.

For olla (to be):

• Negative pattern: ei ole (for 3rd person singular).

So:

• Tämä kampaus ei ole kaunis.
  
  • Tämä kampaus – this hairstyle
  • ei ole – is not
  • kaunis – beautiful
  • → This hairstyle is not beautiful.

Other forms of ei (for reference):

• en ole – I am not
• et ole – you (sg) are not
• ei ole – he/she/it is not
• emme ole – we are not
• ette ole – you (pl) are not
• eivät ole – they are not

How do you pronounce Tämä kampaus on kaunis? Any tips for the sounds?

Pronunciation (approximate):

• Tämä → [ˈtæ.mæ]

  • ä like a in cat (but kept pure, not gliding).
  • Stress on the first syllable: TÄ‑mä.

• kampaus → [ˈkɑm.pɑus]

  • a like a in father.
  • au is a diphthong, like ow in cow, but shorter and very clean: a
    • u.
  • Again, stress on the first syllable: KAM‑paus.

• on → [on]

  • Short o, lips rounded, like in British not (but shorter).

• kaunis → [ˈkɑu.nis]

  • kau‑ with the same au diphthong.
  • Stress on KAU‑.

General tips:

• In Finnish, stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.
• Vowels are kept pure (no English‑style glides).
• Say each written letter; spelling is very phonetic compared to English.

How does the noun kampaus behave in other cases? What are some useful forms?

Kampaus is the nominative singular form (the dictionary form). Some common case forms:

• Nominative singular:
  
  • kampaus – hairstyle (subject or basic form)
• Genitive singular:
  
  • kampauksen – of the hairstyle
    
    • Tämän kampauksen väri on kaunis. – The colour of this hairstyle is beautiful.
• Partitive singular:
  
  • kampausta – (some) hairstyle
    
    • Etsin uutta kampausta. – I am looking for a new hairstyle.
• Nominative plural:
  
  • kampaukset – hairstyles
    
    • Nämä kampaukset ovat kauniit. – These hairstyles are beautiful.
• Partitive plural:
  
  • kampauksia – (some) hairstyles
    
    • Näin monta kaunista kampausta / kampauksia. – I saw many beautiful hairstyles.

In Tämä kampaus on kaunis, you only need the simple nominative singular, but as you talk about ownership, quantities, etc., these other forms become important.