Learn Hardcore Finnish: Häpeä on paha tunne.

Häpeä
- Meaning: shame
- Part of speech: noun
- Case: nominative singular
- Role: subject of the sentence
on
- Meaning: is
- Part of speech: verb
- Form: 3rd person singular present tense of olla (to be)
paha
- Meaning: bad, evil
- Part of speech: adjective
- Form: base form, nominative singular
- Role: describes tunne
tunne
- Meaning: feeling
- Part of speech: noun
- Case: nominative singular
- Role: predicative noun (a complement linked to the subject with on)

So structurally it is:

[Subject] Häpeä – [Verb] on – [Predicative] paha tunne
= Shame is (a) bad feeling.

Why is it häpeä and not häpeää here?

Both häpeä and häpeää exist, but they are different forms of the same noun:

häpeä = nominative singular (dictionary form)
häpeää = partitive singular

In Häpeä on paha tunne, häpeä is the subject and we are making a general statement of identity/classification:

Häpeä on paha tunne.
Shame is a bad feeling.

In this kind of X is Y sentence, both X and Y normally appear in the nominative:

Häpeä (nominative subject)
paha tunne (nominative predicative)

You would use häpeää (partitive) in other structures, for example:

Häpeää on vaikea kestää.
It is hard to endure shame.
(Here häpeää is not the subject of an identity sentence; it behaves more like an object/thing being experienced.)

So: häpeä is correct here because we are saying what shame is, not talking about some amount of shame.

Why is the verb on used instead of olla?

olla is the infinitive (dictionary form) meaning to be.

In real sentences, the verb must be conjugated to match person and number. Here, the subject is häpeä (a 3rd person singular thing), so we need the 3rd person singular present form:

olla → on = is

Some forms of olla in the present tense:

minä olen – I am
sinä olet – you are (sing.)
hän / se on – he / she / it is
me olemme – we are
te olette – you are (pl.)
he / ne ovat – they are

So on in Häpeä on paha tunne is exactly like is in English.

Why isn’t there a word for “a” in “a bad feeling”?

Finnish has no articles at all—no equivalent of English a/an or the.

The phrase paha tunne can therefore mean:

a bad feeling
the bad feeling
just bad feeling (in a general sense)

Which one is meant is understood from context, not from a separate word.

In Häpeä on paha tunne, the most natural English translation is “Shame is a bad feeling.”, but the Finnish itself doesn’t specify a vs the.

Why does the adjective paha come before tunne, and does it always stay in this form?

In Finnish, descriptive adjectives usually come before the noun they modify, just like in English:

paha tunne – bad feeling
suuri talo – big house
vanha kirja – old book

Adjectives agree with the noun in:

number (singular/plural)
case (nominative, genitive, partitive, etc.)

In the sentence:

paha = nominative singular
tunne = nominative singular

Both are nominative singular because they are in a simple “X is Y” structure.

If the case or number changes, paha changes with tunne:

nominative: paha tunne – a bad feeling
plural nominative: pahat tunteet – bad feelings
genitive: pahan tunteen – of the bad feeling
partitive: pahaa tunnetta – (some) bad feeling
inessive: pahassa tunteessa – in the bad feeling

So paha is not “fixed” in that form; it changes in parallel with tunne.

Why is paha tunne also in the nominative? Shouldn’t only the subject be nominative?

In Finnish copular sentences (with the verb olla, “to be”) that express identity or classification, both the subject and the complement (predicative) are usually in the nominative:

Häpeä on paha tunne.
Shame is a bad feeling.

Here:

Häpeä – subject, nominative
paha tunne – predicative noun phrase, nominative

This pattern is common:

Koira on eläin. – A dog is an animal.
Suomi on vaikea kieli. – Finnish is a difficult language.

Other cases (like partitive) can appear with olla, but they usually signal other nuances (quantity, partialness, temporariness) or occur in different kinds of structures. For a straightforward definition “X is a Y”, nominative for both is standard.

Can I change the word order, for example say Paha tunne on häpeä?

You can, but the emphasis changes.

Häpeä on paha tunne.
Natural, neutral statement: Shame is a bad feeling.
Topic: häpeä (shame). You are saying something about shame.
Paha tunne on häpeä.
Grammatically correct, but sounds less neutral as a general statement.
Topic: paha tunne (the bad feeling). It can sound more like:
That bad feeling (we’re talking about) is shame.

So:

For a general, dictionary-like statement about shame, Häpeä on paha tunne is the normal word order.
Changing the order is possible but usually implies a shift in focus or context.

Why is Häpeä capitalized? Is that always how the word is written?

In the sentence Häpeä on paha tunne, Häpeä is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

Finnish capitalization rules (simplified):

Capitalize:
- First word of a sentence
- Proper names (people, places, some specific names)
Do not capitalize ordinary nouns in the middle of a sentence.

So if häpeä appeared in the middle of a sentence, it would usually be written with a lowercase h:

Tunne häpeästä on voimakas.
The feeling of shame is strong.

There is no special meaning attached to Häpeä vs häpeä beyond sentence position.

How do you pronounce häpeä and tunne, especially the ä and the double n?

häpeä

Syllables: hä-pe-ä (three syllables)
Stress: on the first syllable (HÄ-pe-ä)
ä is pronounced like:
- the a in English “cat”, or
- the e in “bet”, but a bit more open
The two ä’s are separate vowels in separate syllables: not a diphthong.

Approximate English-style pronunciation: HAE-pe-ae (with short, clear vowels).

tunne

Syllables: tun-ne (two syllables)
Stress: TUN-ne
u is like oo in “food” (but short)
nn indicates a long consonant: hold the n slightly longer than in English.

Roughly: TOON-neh, but with shorter vowels and a noticeably longer n in the middle.

What is the difference between paha and huono, since both can mean “bad”?

Both paha and huono can translate as bad, but their typical uses are a bit different.

paha

Basic meanings: bad, evil, nasty, harmful
Often used for:
- moral badness: paha ihminen – an evil person
- something unpleasant, painful, harmful:
  - paha tilanne – a nasty situation
  - paha olo – feeling bad (physically or mentally)
- emotions and emotional experiences:
  - paha tunne – a bad (unpleasant) feeling

huono

Basic meanings: bad, poor (quality), not good at something
Often used for:
- quality or performance:
  - huono sää – bad weather
  - huono kirja – a bad/poor book
  - huono laulaja – a bad singer
- condition or state:
  - huono kunto – poor physical condition

In Häpeä on paha tunne, paha tunne is idiomatic and natural: shame is seen as an unpleasant, negative feeling, not as a “poor-quality feeling”. Huono tunne is understandable but less typical in this general emotional sense.

Is häpeä here a noun or a verb? I know there is also a verb related to shame.

In Häpeä on paha tunne, häpeä is a noun meaning shame.

Related words:

häpeä – noun: shame
hävetä – verb: to be ashamed

Examples:

Tunnen häpeää. – I feel shame. (noun in partitive)
Minua hävettää. – I am ashamed / I feel ashamed. (verb hävetä in an impersonal construction)

So in your sentence, think of häpeä purely as the thing, the emotion, not as an action. It is the subject of the sentence, like “Love is strong” where love is a noun.

How could I make similar sentences with other emotions?

You can use the same structure:

[Emotion, nominative] + on + [adjective + tunne, nominative]

Some examples:

Rakkaus on voimakas tunne.
Love is a powerful feeling.
Viha on vaarallinen tunne.
Anger is a dangerous feeling.
Ilo on ihana tunne.
Joy is a wonderful feeling.
Pelko on voimakas tunne.
Fear is a powerful feeling.

In each case:

the emotion word (rakkaus, viha, ilo, pelko) is the subject
on is the verb “is”
the adjective + tunne phrase (voimakas tunne, ihana tunne, etc.) is the predicative in nominative.