Breakdown of Kaksitoista harvinaista postimerkkiä maksaa yhteensä sata euroa.
maksaa
to cost
euro
euro
kaksitoista
twelve
sata
one hundred
yhteensä
in total
harvinainen
rare
postimerkki
postage stamp
Questions & Answers about Kaksitoista harvinaista postimerkkiä maksaa yhteensä sata euroa.
Why is the verb maksaa in the singular instead of the plural when the subject is twelve stamps?
In Finnish, when the subject of a sentence is a number greater than one (like kaksitoista), the verb must be in the third-person singular. So we use maksaa instead of the plural maksavat.
Why are the words harvinaista and postimerkkiä in the partitive singular?
Whenever a noun and its adjective follow a number greater than one, they must both be in the partitive singular. Because they come after kaksitoista (twelve), the basic words harvinainen (rare) and postimerkki (stamp) change to their partitive forms: harvinaista and postimerkkiä.
If the sentence is talking about a large amount of euros, why is sata in the basic form rather than the partitive?
Sata acts as a number word here, just like kaksitoista at the beginning of the sentence. The number itself stays in the basic form (nominative), but it forces the noun that comes after it to be partitive. That's why we have sata (basic form) followed by euroa (partitive singular).
What is the role of yhteensä here?
Yhteensä is a very common adverb meaning "in total" or "altogether". You will hear it frequently in shops or restaurants when someone is telling you the final price of multiple items.
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