Questions & Answers about Tuo merimies on nähnyt koko maailman.
How do we form the perfect tense "has seen" in this sentence?
In Finnish, the perfect tense is built using the helper verb olla (to be) plus the past participle form of the main verb. For the third person singular (that sailor), the helper verb is on. The main verb nähdä (to see) takes the form nähnyt.
How do I get nähnyt from the basic verb nähdä?
Nähdä is a Type 2 verb. To form the past participle for a singular subject, you remove the infinitive ending -dä and add -nyt. This gives you nähnyt.
Why does maailma (world) have an -n ending here?
The -n ending makes maailman a total object. It shows that the sailor has seen the entire world, making the action complete. In Finnish, when an action is complete and the object is a whole thing, the object usually takes this -n ending.
If maailman has an -n ending, why doesn't koko (whole) have one too?
Usually, adjectives in Finnish must match the ending of the noun they describe. However, koko is a special exception. It is an indeclinable word, meaning it never changes its form no matter what ending the following noun has.
Is merimies a compound word?