Questions & Answers about Minä luin artikkelin eilen.
How does the verb lukea turn into luin?
This happens through consonant gradation and the past tense marker i. The basic stem of lukea is luke-. Because the personal ending -n closes the syllable, the strong k disappears, making the weak stem lue-. Then, the past tense i replaces the final e, leaving us with lui-. Add the -n ending, and you get luin.
Why did the k in lukea disappear completely instead of changing to another letter?
In Finnish consonant gradation, a single k between two vowels often disappears entirely in the weak grade. So, the strong stem luke- naturally drops the k to become lue- when the syllable is closed by the personal ending.
Why is the word for article written as artikkelin with an -n at the end?
The -n ending shows that artikkelin is the total object of the sentence. Because you read the whole article as a completed action, it takes the accusative case, which looks exactly like the genitive case. If you were still in the middle of reading it, you would use the partitive case (artikkelia).
Could I drop the word Minä and just say Luin artikkelin eilen?