Questions & Answers about Me katsomme kaukaisten tähtien kuvia.
Why does kaukainen become kaukaisten in this sentence?
The adjective kaukainen (distant) must match the noun it describes, so it is in the genitive plural. Words ending in -nen change to an -is- stem. Then we add the genitive plural ending -ten, giving us kaukaisten.
How is the genitive plural tähtien formed from the basic word tähti?
The basic word is tähti (star). When forming the plural for words ending in -i, we use the plural marker -i- and add the standard genitive ending -en. This combines smoothly into tähtien (of the stars).
Why is the word for pictures, kuvia, in the partitive plural instead of the basic plural?
The verb katsoa (to look at, to watch) always requires its object to be in the partitive case. Because we are looking at multiple pictures, we use the partitive plural form kuvia.
Why do the words kaukaisten tähtien come right before the word kuvia?
In Finnish, words in the genitive case (showing ownership or connection) are placed directly before the thing they describe. Since these are pictures of distant stars, kaukaisten tähtien comes before kuvia.