Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?

In your opinion, is this café too noisy or suitably peaceful?

Breakdown of Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?

• olla: to be
• tämä: this
• rauhallinen: peaceful
• meluisa: noisy
• kahvila: the café
• liian: too
• vai: or
• sopiva: suitable
• mielestäsi: in your opinion

Questions & Answers about Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?

What does onko mean, and how is it different from on?

On means is.
Onko means is it? / is (something)?, so it’s simply the verb olla (to be) + the question ending -ko/-kö.

• on = it is
• onko = is it?

You use onko (or other verbs + -ko/-kö) to form yes/no questions in Finnish.

Why does the verb onko come first in the sentence?

In Finnish yes/no questions, the verb with -ko/-kö normally comes first:

• Onko tämä kahvila…? = Is this café…?

This is similar to English where we move the auxiliary to the front:
This café is noisy. → Is this café noisy?
So Finnish puts onko first to mark it clearly as a question that expects yes/no (or a choice) as an answer.

What does tämä kahvila literally mean, and could we leave out tämä?

Tämä kahvila literally means this café.

• tämä = this (near the speaker)
• kahvila = café

You can say just kahvila (= a/ the café) in other contexts, but tämä kahvila points to a specific one you both know or can see.
In this exact sentence, if you dropped tämä, Onko kahvila mielestäsi…? would sound less specific and a bit unnatural unless the context is very clear.

What exactly does mielestäsi mean, and how is it formed?

Mielestäsi means in your opinion, from your point of view.

It is built from three parts:

• mieli = mind, opinion
• -stä (elative case) = from → mielestä = from (the) mind / from the point of view
• -si (possessive suffix) = your → mielestäsi = from your mind / in your opinion

So Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi…? literally is Is this café, in your opinion, …?

What is the difference between mielestäsi and sinun mielestäsi?

Both mean in your opinion.

• mielestäsi already contains -si = your
• sinun mielestäsi repeats the possessor with the pronoun sinun (your)

They are both correct and common:

• Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi…?
• Onko tämä kahvila sinun mielestäsi…?

Adding sinun can make the reference slightly more explicit or emphatic, but often there’s no real difference in meaning.

Why is kahvila in the basic form (nominative) here?

Kahvila is the subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative (dictionary) form:

• tämä kahvila = this café (subject)

The adjectives that describe it (meluisa, rauhallinen) are predicate adjectives, and in Finnish they also appear in the nominative to agree with the subject:

• tämä kahvila on meluisa / rauhallinen
• Onko tämä kahvila liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?

No extra case ending is needed.

How does liian work, and where can it appear in a sentence?

Liian means too / overly (as in “too noisy”).

Pattern: liian + adjective/adverb

• liian meluisa = too noisy
• liian kallis = too expensive
• liian nopeasti = too quickly

It normally comes directly before the word it modifies. In this sentence, liian modifies meluisa:
liian meluisa = too noisy.

What does meluisa mean exactly, and are there similar words I should know?

Meluisa means noisy, usually with the sense of a lot of background noise, bustle, loud environment.

Related/similar words:

• melu = noise
• meluisa = noisy (often about places or situations)
• äänekäs = loud, noisy (often used more for people or loud sounds, but can also describe places)

So a meluisa kahvila is a café where there’s a lot of noise and chatter.

What does sopivan mean here, and why is it not sopiva?

The base adjective is sopiva = suitable, appropriate, just right.

Here we have sopivan rauhallinen, where sopivan is the genitive form of sopiva used somewhat like an adverb. It expresses “suitably, just-right-ly”:

• sopivan rauhallinen ≈ suitably calm / calm enough / nicely calm

So the contrast is:

• liian meluisa = too noisy
• sopivan rauhallinen = calm in a good, appropriate way (not too calm, not too noisy)

Using the genitive sopivan before another adjective is idiomatic and common with this word.

What is the role of rauhallinen in this sentence?

Rauhallinen is an adjective meaning calm, peaceful, quiet.

In this sentence it is a predicate adjective describing tämä kahvila in the second option:

• (Onko se) sopivan rauhallinen? = Is it suitably calm/peaceful?

Together with sopivan, it forms the phrase sopivan rauhallinen, one of the two possible characterizations of the café.

Why is vai used instead of tai between the two options?

Vai is used in questions when you are offering two (or more) alternative choices that are usually mutually exclusive:

• Onko tämä kahvila liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?

Tai is generally or in statements and in questions where both options can be true or where the choice is not a strict either–or.

So here, the speaker is clearly asking you to choose: is it too noisy or (just) suitably calm → hence vai, not tai.

Could the word order be Onko tämä kahvila liian meluisa mielestäsi vai sopivan rauhallinen? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is also grammatically correct.

Finnish word order is relatively flexible, so mielestäsi can be placed a bit earlier or later:

• Onko tämä kahvila mielestäsi liian meluisa vai sopivan rauhallinen?
• Onko tämä kahvila liian meluisa mielestäsi vai sopivan rauhallinen?

The original version (with mielestäsi earlier) is slightly more neutral and common, but both sound natural.

How would you answer this question in Finnish, both to say it’s too noisy and that it’s suitably calm?

To say it’s too noisy:

• Se on mielestäni liian meluisa. = In my opinion it’s too noisy.
• More casually: Liian meluisa, mielestäni.

To say it’s suitably calm:

• Se on mielestäni sopivan rauhallinen. = In my opinion it’s suitably calm.
• More casually: Sopivan rauhallinen, minusta.

You can use mielestäni (in my opinion) or minusta (lit. “from me”) to state your view.