Breakdown of Rikas nainen ostaisi uuden kartanon.
uusi
new
nainen
woman
ostaa
to buy
kartano
the manor
rikas
rich
Questions & Answers about Rikas nainen ostaisi uuden kartanon.
How do we form "ostaisi" (would buy) from the dictionary verb "ostaa"?
First, take the verb stem by dropping the final vowel: ostaa becomes osta-. Next, add the conditional marker -isi-. Since the subject is a "she" (third-person singular), there is no extra personal ending added to the end. So, osta- + -isi = ostaisi.
Doesn't the conditional marker -isi- sometimes cause the stem's final vowel to disappear? Why is the "a" still there in "ostaisi"?
Great question! When adding -isi-, stems ending in -o, -ö, -u, -y, and -a (in two-syllable verbs like this one) keep their final vowel, creating a vowel combination like the ai in ostaisi. However, stems ending in -e or -i drop their final vowel before the marker. For example, lukea (to read) has the stem luke-, which becomes lukisi (would read).
Why are the words for "new mansion" written as "uuden kartanon" instead of "uusi kartano"?
They are the object of the sentence (the thing being bought). Because the woman would buy one whole mansion, the object takes the -n accusative case ending. In Finnish, adjectives must match the noun they describe, so both the noun (kartano -> kartanon) and the adjective (uusi -> uuden) take this -n ending.
Why does the word "uusi" (new) change so much to become "uuden"?
Many Finnish words ending in -si belong to a special group where the -si changes to -te- or -de- when you add an ending. For uusi, the basic stem is uute-. When you add the -n ending, consonant gradation causes the strong -t- to weaken into a -d-. Therefore, uusi + n becomes uuden.
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