Breakdown of Minulla on vanhoja kolikoita, joita keräilen.
olla
to be
minä
I
vanha
old
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
kolikko
coin
keräillä
to collect (as a hobby)
Questions & Answers about Minulla on vanhoja kolikoita, joita keräilen.
Why do we use the form joita here instead of the basic plural jotka (which)?
Joita is the partitive plural of the relative pronoun joka. It is plural because it refers back to the plural word kolikoita (coins). It is in the partitive case because the verb keräillä (to collect) requires its object to be in the partitive.
Why are the old coins (vanhoja kolikoita) in the partitive plural?
In Finnish 'I have' sentences (minulla on), the things you own are put in the partitive case if they are an undefined, plural amount. Because you have an unspecified number of old coins, both the adjective (vanha) and noun (kolikko) take the partitive plural endings.
How is kolikoita formed from the base word kolikko?
To make the partitive plural, we add the plural marker -i- and the partitive ending -ta. For words ending in -o, the vowel stays, giving us kolikko + i + ta = kolikoita.
I've seen the verb kerätä for 'to gather' or 'to collect'. Why does this sentence use keräillä (keräilen)?
Keräillä is a variation of kerätä that means doing the action casually, continuously, or as a hobby. Since coin collecting is a hobby, keräillä is the most natural verb to use here.
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