Questions & Answers about Lapset syövät punaisia vadelmia.
Why is it punaisia vadelmia instead of the basic plural punaiset vadelmat?
We use the partitive plural because the children are eating an undefined amount of raspberries and the action is ongoing. If they were eating all the raspberries in a specific, known bowl, it would be punaiset vadelmat.
How is the partitive plural vadelmia formed from the basic word vadelma?
To make the partitive plural, we use the plural marker -i- and the partitive ending -a. When a word with three or more syllables ends in -a, that final -a drops out before we add -ia. So, vadelma becomes vadelmia.
The word for red is punainen. Why does it become punaisia here?
Words ending in -nen follow a special pattern. To form the partitive plural, the -nen ending changes to -is-, and then we add the partitive ending -ia. This makes punaisia.
Why does the adjective punaisia have to change at all?
In Finnish, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe. Because vadelmia is in the partitive plural, the adjective punaisia must also be in the partitive plural.
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