Breakdown of Laitatteko te kuvat näihin kirjekuoriin?
tämä
this
te
you (plural/formal)
kuva
picture
laittaa
to put
kirjekuori
envelope
Questions & Answers about Laitatteko te kuvat näihin kirjekuoriin?
How is the "into" form made in kirjekuoriin (into the envelopes)?
The basic word is kirjekuori (envelope). Its plural stem is kirjekuori-. To say "into" in the plural, we add the illative plural ending. For this type of word, the ending is -in. When added to the stem, it stretches the final vowel to make -iin, resulting in kirjekuoriin.
What is the base word of näihin (into these)?
Näihin comes from the demonstrative pronoun tämä (this). Pronouns have to match the case of the noun they describe. Because the envelopes are in the illative plural (kirjekuoriin), the word for "these" must also be in the illative plural. We take the plural stem näi- and add the -hin ending, making näihin.
Why is it laitatteko with one "t" in the middle, when the dictionary form is laittaa?
This is a quick reminder of consonant gradation! The basic verb laittaa (to put) has a strong -tt-. When we add the "you" (plural) ending -tte, it closes the syllable. This weakens the strong -tt- into a single -t-, giving us laitatte. Then, the question particle -ko is simply attached to the end.
Why does kuvat (the pictures) just have the basic plural -t ending?
Kuvat is the object of the sentence (the things being put). In Finnish, plural objects don't have a special accusative case form; they just look exactly like the basic (nominative) plural, ending in -t. This complete form implies you are moving all of the specific pictures in question.
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