Breakdown of Katso vasemmalle ja oikealle.
ja
and
katsoa
to watch
oikea
right (direction)
vasen
left (direction)
Questions & Answers about Katso vasemmalle ja oikealle.
How do we get the command form katso?
Katso comes from the Type 1 verb katsoa (to look). To make the informal "you" (singular) command form for Type 1 verbs, you simply take the dictionary form and drop the final -a or -ä. So, katsoa simply becomes katso.
Why do the words for left and right end in -lle?
The -lle ending is the allative case, which usually translates to "onto" or "to". In Finnish, when you talk about looking in a certain direction, you use this ending to show the movement of your gaze to that place. Therefore, oikea (right) becomes oikealle (to the right).
The dictionary word for "left" is vasen. Why does it change to vasemmalle?
Words ending in -en, like vasen, often go through a stem change before grammatical endings are added. Here, the -en changes to -emma- before adding the -lle ending. It is an irregular but very common word, so it's best to memorize this form!
Do we need to include the word sinä (you) in this sentence?
No, you can safely leave it out. Just like in English, when you use a command (the imperative mood), it is already obvious that you are talking directly to someone, so the pronoun sinä is not needed.