Breakdown of Optikko sanoi näöntarkastuksen kestävän vain vartin.
vain
only
kestää
to last
sanoa
to say
optikko
the optician
Questions & Answers about Optikko sanoi näöntarkastuksen kestävän vain vartin.
Can you break the sentence down word by word?
Yes:
- Optikko = optician
- sanoi = said
- näöntarkastuksen = the eye test / vision test in a special -n form used here
- kestävän = lasting / would last
- vain = only
- vartin = a quarter of an hour / fifteen minutes
So the structure is literally something like:
The optician said the eye test lasting only a quarter of an hour
but in natural English that becomes:
The optician said that the eye test would only take fifteen minutes.
Why is there no word for the in Finnish here?
Finnish does not have articles like a and the.
So optikko can mean:
- an optician
- the optician
depending on context.
The same is true for many Finnish nouns. English has to choose, but Finnish usually leaves that unstated unless context makes it clear.
Why is there no että after sanoi?