Breakdown of Harkitse, mikä reitti on turvallinen.
olla
to be
mikä
what
harkita
to consider
turvallinen
safe
Questions & Answers about Harkitse, mikä reitti on turvallinen.
How do we get the command form harkitse?
The base verb is harkita (to consider), which is a Type 5 verb. The most reliable way to form the singular command (imperative) for any verb is to take the 'I' form (minä) and drop the -n. Since 'I consider' is harkitsen, dropping the -n leaves us with the imperative harkitse!
Why does the sentence use mikä for 'which' instead of kumpi?
Mikä is used for 'which' or 'what' when there are many possibilities or an open-ended number of choices. If you were choosing between exactly two routes, you would use kumpi (which of the two) instead.
Does the indirect question mikä reitti on turvallinen have a special word order?
No, and that is what makes it easy! In Finnish, an indirect question (a question embedded inside a larger sentence) keeps the exact same word order as a direct question. If you wanted to ask 'Which route is safe?' directly, it would be exactly the same: Mikä reitti on turvallinen?
Why is turvallinen (safe) in its basic dictionary form?
The adjective turvallinen describes the noun reitti (route). Because reitti is a singular, countable thing acting as the subject of the second half of the sentence, it is in the basic nominative form. An adjective must always match the case of the noun it describes, so it stays in the basic form too.