Questions & Answers about Kenelle sinä lähetät paketin?
Why is the question word kenelle instead of kuka?
Kenelle is the allative form of kuka (who). The -lle ending generally means "to" or "onto". Because you are sending the package to someone, you must use kenelle (to whom).
The dictionary form of "to send" is lähettää. Why does lähetät only have one "t" in the middle?
This happens because of consonant gradation. When you add the personal ending -t (for sinä), it closes the syllable. This causes the strong double "tt" in lähettää to soften into a weak single "t" in lähetät.
Why does paketti have an -n at the end to become paketin?
The -n ending shows that the package is the object of the sentence, meaning it is the thing being sent. In Finnish, a total object often takes this ending. Notice that adding this -n also triggers consonant gradation, changing the double "tt" in paketti to a single "t" in paketin.
In English we can say "You send the package to who?". Can I put the question word at the end and say Sinä lähetät paketin kenelle?
In standard Finnish, the question word almost always goes at the very beginning of the sentence. While people might understand you if you put it at the end in very casual speech, starting with kenelle is the natural and grammatically correct way to ask.
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