Questions & Answers about Viikko alkaa maanantaina.
Why does the word maanantai end with -na here?
The ending -na or -nä is called the essive case. In Finnish, you use this ending to say that something happens on a certain day of the week. So, maanantai is "Monday", and maanantaina means "on Monday".
How do I know whether to use -na or -nä?
It depends on vowel harmony. If the word has the back vowels a, o, or u, you use -na. Since maanantai has the vowel a, it takes -na. If a word only had front vowels (like ä, ö, or y) or neutral vowels (i, e), it would take -nä.
Is alkaa the dictionary form of the verb, or is it conjugated?
In this sentence, it is actually conjugated! The dictionary form is also alkaa (to begin). To make the "it" form to match viikko (the week), you take the stem alka- and double the last vowel, which gives you alkaa (it begins). They just happen to look exactly the same.
Why is there no word for "The" before viikko?
Finnish does not have articles like "a", "an", or "the". The word viikko can mean "a week" or "the week" depending on the context. Because we are making a general statement about how weeks work, the English translation naturally uses "The week".
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