Questions & Answers about Tämä mandariini on makea ja helppo kuoria.
What does tämä mean here, and why is it at the beginning?
Tämä means this.
In Tämä mandariini, it works like this in English: this mandarin.
It comes first because Finnish often starts a simple sentence with the subject:
- Tämä mandariini = the subject
- on = is
- makea ja helppo kuoria = sweet and easy to peel
So the structure is very close to English:
- This mandarin is sweet and easy to peel.
Why is mandariini in that form? Why not some other ending?
Mandariini is in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form.
It appears in this form because it is the subject of the sentence:
- Tämä mandariini = This mandarin
In simple X is Y sentences, the subject is normally in the nominative:
- Talo on suuri. = The house is big.
- Omena on punainen. = The apple is red.
- Tämä mandariini on makea. = This mandarin is sweet.
What does on mean?