Breakdown of Tämä painava tavara ei mahdu matkalaukkuun.
tämä
this
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
tavara
the item
matkalaukku
the suitcase
Questions & Answers about Tämä painava tavara ei mahdu matkalaukkuun.
How do you form the "into" case for matkalaukkuun?
The ending for "into" (the illative case) is usually formed by doubling the last vowel of the word and adding -n. Since matkalaukku (suitcase) ends in -u, we add another -u- and an -n, making it matkalaukkuun.
Why does the verb mahtua (to fit) use the illative case here?
In English we usually say something fits in a bag, but Finnish thinks of it as an active movement of fitting into a space. Because of this, verbs like mahtua answer the question mihin? (into where?) and require the illative case ending.
Why is it ei mahdu instead of ei mahtua?
To say "does not", you use the negative word ei followed by the verb stem, not the dictionary form. When finding the stem of mahtua, a spelling rule called consonant gradation changes the strong -t- to a weak -d-, giving us the negative form mahdu.
Is matkalaukku a compound word?
Yes! It is made of matka (trip or journey) and laukku (bag). Put them together and a "trip bag" is a suitcase!