Breakdown of Uudet aidat ovat navetan takana.
olla
to be
uusi
new
takana
behind
aita
the fence
navetta
the cowshed
Questions & Answers about Uudet aidat ovat navetan takana.
The current lesson is about the partitive plural, so why aren't the fences in the partitive plural here?
The fences (uudet aidat) are the subject of the sentence. Complete, countable subjects usually take the nominative plural (the basic plural form). We would use the partitive plural if we were talking about an unknown or incomplete quantity, like in the sentence Minulla on uusia aitoja (I have some new fences).
How does consonant gradation work in the word aidat?
Aidat is the nominative plural of aita (fence). Because adding the plural ending -t closes the final syllable, the strong consonant t weakens to d. Interestingly, if we used the partitive plural form (aitoja), the strong t would remain because the syllable stays open!
Why does navetan only have one t when the basic word is navetta?
This is another example of consonant gradation. The postposition takana (behind) requires the noun before it to be in the genitive case. Adding the genitive -n to navetta closes the final syllable, which forces the strong double tt to weaken into a single t.
How does the word uusi (new) change into uudet?
Words ending in -si like uusi have a stem ending in -te-, making the basic stem uute-. When we add the plural -t, the syllable closes. This triggers consonant gradation, causing the t in the stem to weaken to a d, resulting in uudet.
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