Breakdown of Hän ei ole Lontoossa turistina.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (negative verb)
Lontoo
London
turisti
the tourist
Questions & Answers about Hän ei ole Lontoossa turistina.
What does the -na ending on turistina do in this sentence?
This is the essive case, which is used to express a role, function, or temporary state. Adding -na to turisti translates to "as a tourist" or "in the role of a tourist."
How do I know whether to use -na or -nä for this ending?
You follow the rules of vowel harmony. The word turisti contains the back vowel u, which forces the ending to use the back vowel a, making it -na. You would use -nä if the word's stem contained front vowels like ä, ö, or y.
Why does the sentence say ei ole instead of ei on?
This is a helpful refresher on negative verbs. When you use the negative word ei, the main verb drops its personal ending and changes to its negative stem. The stem of the verb olla (to be) is ole, so "is not" becomes ei ole.
What grammatical case is Lontoossa using?
It uses the inessive case, shown by the -ssa ending. This case is used to say where something is physically located, turning the base word Lontoo (London) into Lontoossa (in London).
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