Breakdown of Käänny vasemmalle ja mene ambulanssille.
ja
and
mennä
to go
kääntyä
to turn
vasen
left (direction)
ambulanssi
the ambulance
Questions & Answers about Käänny vasemmalle ja mene ambulanssille.
How do we form the command käänny from the dictionary verb kääntyä?
Kääntyä (to turn) is a Type 1 verb. To make the singular command form, you take the I-form of the verb and drop the final -n. The I-form is käännyn because the consonant combination -nt- weakens to -nn-. Dropping the -n gives us the command käänny.
Why is the command for 'go' mene when the dictionary form is mennä?
Mennä is a Type 3 verb. For Type 3 verbs, you find the stem by dropping the final two letters (-nä) and adding an -e, giving you the stem mene-. The singular command is simply this stem exactly as it is: mene.
Why does the word vasen (left) change to vasemmalle?
The word vasen has a special stem, vasemma-, which you must use before adding endings. Here, we add the -lle ending to say that the movement is directed to the left.
Why do we say ambulanssille instead of using the ending for 'into' (ambulanssiin)?
The -lle ending means moving to or up to the outside of something. If you said mene ambulanssiin, it would be a command to physically climb inside the ambulance, rather than just walking over to it.
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