Word
Mihin sinä pakkaat nämä tavarat?
Meaning
Where are you packing these items?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Mihin sinä pakkaat nämä tavarat?
Why does this sentence use mihin instead of missä for "where"?
Missä means "where at" or "in where", but mihin means "where to" or "into where". Because the action of packing involves moving things into a container (like a bag or box), Finnish uses the "into" case with the question word mihin.
The dictionary word for "to pack" is pakata. Why does it have a double 'k' in pakkaat?
Pakata is a Type 4 verb, and it undergoes consonant gradation. When finding the stem to conjugate for sinä (you), the weak single k becomes a strong double kk. You also double the final vowel to get the stem pakkaa- before adding the -t ending.
Why is it nämä instead of tämä?
Tämä is the singular word for "this". Because you are talking about multiple items (tavarat), you must use the plural form, nämä ("these").
Why does tavarat end in -t here?
The -t at the end of tavara (item) makes it plural, so tavarat means "items". Even though it is the object of the sentence (the things being packed), standard plural objects in Finnish use this exact same -t ending.