Questions & Answers about Minä piilotin sinun karkkisi pieniin lokeroihin.
Why does "in the small lockers" use the illative case (pieniin lokeroihin) instead of the inessive (pienissä lokeroissa)?
In Finnish, verbs about hiding, leaving, or forgetting something somewhere usually take a "to" or "into" case. Because you are putting the candies into the lockers to hide them, the verb piilottaa (to hide) requires the illative case.
How is the illative plural formed for the word pieniin?
The basic word is pieni (small), and its plural stem is pieni-. To form the illative plural for a plural stem ending in a short vowel, you lengthen that vowel and add -n. So, pieni- + -in becomes pieniin.
Why does lokeroihin end in -ihin rather than -iin like pieniin?
It depends on the plural stem! The word lokero (locker or compartment) has the plural stem lokeroi-, which ends in a diphthong (two vowels sounded together). When a plural stem ends in a diphthong, the illative plural ending is -hin. Therefore, lokeroi- + -hin makes lokeroihin.
The English translation says "candies", but karkkisi looks singular. Where is the plural marker?