Breakdown of Koulu loppuu toukokuussa tai kesäkuussa.
tai
or
koulu
school
loppua
to end
toukokuu
May
kesäkuu
June
Questions & Answers about Koulu loppuu toukokuussa tai kesäkuussa.
How do we say "in May" or "in June" in this sentence?
To say that something happens "in" a certain month, Finnish uses the inessive ending -ssa or -ssä. We add it directly to the end of the month's name, which is why toukokuu (May) becomes toukokuussa.
Why is the ending for kesäkuussa -ssa and not -ssä, since kesä has front vowels?
The months in Finnish are compound words ending in -kuu (moon or month). Vowel harmony rules in compound words look only at the final part of the word. Since kuu only has back vowels (the letter u), the ending must be the back vowel version -ssa, regardless of the front vowels in kesä.
How is the verb loppuu (ends) formed here?
The base dictionary form of the verb is loppua (to end or finish). Because the subject is a single thing (koulu, meaning school), we conjugate it for the "it" form. For this type of verb, you take the stem loppu- and double the final vowel, resulting in loppuu.
Why aren't the months capitalized like they are in English?
Unlike in English, Finnish does not capitalize the names of months, seasons, or days of the week unless they happen to be the very first word of a sentence. That is why they are written in lowercase as toukokuussa and kesäkuussa.
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