Questions & Answers about Juna menee etelään.
Why is it etelään and not just etelä?
Etelä means south. Because the train is moving towards or into that direction, we use the illative (to/into) case, which adds -än to the end. In Finnish, compass directions behave just like physical places, so etelään essentially translates to "into the south".
This lesson is about commands. How would I tell someone "Go south!" using this verb?
The easiest way to form a command (the imperative) for Verb Types 1, 2, and 3 is to take the "minä" (I) form of the present tense and drop the final -n. For the Type 3 verb mennä (to go), the "minä" form is menen. Drop the -n and you get Mene! So, "Go south!" is Mene etelään!
Why does menee end with a double vowel?
Menee is the "he/she/it" (3rd person singular) form. For most verbs, to create this present tense form, you take the verb stem (which is mene- here) and double the final vowel. That gives you the double 'e' in menee.
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