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Questions & Answers about Minä juon maitoa.
What is the dictionary form of juon, and how does it conjugate as a Type 2 verb?
The dictionary form is juoda (to drink). For Type 2 verbs, you find the stem by dropping the -da or -dä ending. So, the stem is juo-. Then you just add the personal ending, which is -n for "I". This gives us juon.
How would I say "I don't drink milk" based on this lesson's grammar?
You would say Minä en juo maitoa. To make a negative sentence, use the negative verb en (I don't) and attach it to the verb stem without any personal endings. The stem of juoda is juo, so it becomes en juo.
Why is the word for milk maitoa instead of just maito?
Maitoa is in the partitive case. In Finnish, you use the partitive case for mass nouns (things you cannot easily count, like liquids) when you are talking about an unspecified amount. You are drinking some milk, not all the milk in the world!
Can I drop the word Minä and just say Juon maitoa?
Yes, you can! Because the verb ending -n already tells us that "I" am doing the action, the pronoun Minä is optional. In everyday Finnish, it is very common to leave it out.