Breakdown of Ovatko turistit sisällä noissa vanhoissa rakennuksissa vai ulkona?
olla
to be
tuo
that
ulkona
outside
sisällä
inside
vanha
old
vai
or (in questions)
turisti
the tourist
rakennus
the building
Questions & Answers about Ovatko turistit sisällä noissa vanhoissa rakennuksissa vai ulkona?
Why do noissa, vanhoissa, and rakennuksissa all have the -issa ending?
In Finnish, pronouns and adjectives must match the case and number of the noun they describe. Because the main noun rakennuksissa (in the buildings) is in the plural inessive case, nuo (those) becomes noissa and vanha (old) becomes vanhoissa.
How do we build the word rakennuksissa from the base word rakennus (building)?
Words ending in -us usually change their stem to end in -ukse- (like rakennukse-). To make the plural inessive, you add the plural marker -i- (which drops the final -e-) and then the inessive ending -ssa. So: rakennukse- + i + ssa = rakennuksissa.
Does the word sisällä (inside) force the next words to be in the -issa case?
No, they are actually separate pieces of information! Sisällä acts as an independent adverb here meaning "inside". Noissa vanhoissa rakennuksissa separately means "in those old buildings". If you wanted to use sisällä as a postposition connected directly to the noun ("inside of the buildings"), the noun would need to be in the plural genitive case: rakennusten sisällä.
Why does the sentence use vai for "or" instead of tai?
You must use vai in questions when you are asking the listener to choose between two mutually exclusive options (Are they inside OR outside?). Tai is used for "or" in regular statements or when the options aren't strict alternatives.
What is the base form of noissa (in those)?
The base form is the demonstrative pronoun nuo (those). When you add the plural -i- and the inessive -ssa, the -u- changes to an -o-, making it noissa.
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