Questions & Answers about Onko tämä iso laatikko leijonille?
How do we get the form leijonille from the basic word for "lion"?
The basic word is leijona. To make it plural, we need the plural marker -i-. Because leijona has three syllables and ends in -a, that final -a drops out before the plural -i-, giving us the plural stem leijoni-. Finally, we add the allative ending -lle (to/for), giving us leijonille.
Why does "for the lions" use the -lle ending? I thought it meant "onto".
You are right that the allative case (-lle) literally means moving "onto" an outer surface. However, it is also the standard case used to mean "to" or "for" someone. Just as you would say minulle (to/for me), you use leijonille to show the lions are the recipients or beneficiaries of the box.
Since there are plural lions, why are tämä and iso in their basic singular forms?
Adjectives and pointing words like "this" must match the noun they describe. Here, tämä (this) and iso (big) are describing the laatikko (box). Because there is only one box, those words stay in the basic singular form, regardless of how many lions the box is for.
Can you remind me how the word Onko makes this a question?
Onko is made of the verb on (is) plus the question particle -ko. In Finnish, you form a yes/no question by taking the word you are asking about, attaching -ko (or -kö depending on vowel harmony), and moving it to the very front of the sentence. Here, you are asking "Is it...?" so on gets the particle.
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