Breakdown of Saavuimme tänne viidentenätoista toukokuuta.
tänne
to here
toukokuu
May
saapua
to arrive
viidestoista
fifteenth
Questions & Answers about Saavuimme tänne viidentenätoista toukokuuta.
How is the word viidentenätoista formed from the number 15?
To say "on a certain date", Finnish uses the essive case (which ends in -na or -nä). The base ordinal number for 15 is viidestoista (fifteenth). For numbers 11-19, only the first part declines. So viides (fifth) changes to the essive viidentenä, and -toista stays exactly the same, making viidentenätoista.
Why is the month toukokuuta in the partitive case?
When saying dates, the month always takes the partitive case. You can think of it as meaning "of May". Since toukokuu ends in two vowels, we add the partitive ending -ta to get toukokuuta.
Why does saapua (to arrive) become saavuimme with a "v"?
This happens because of consonant gradation. When we add endings to the verb stem, the strong p in saapua softens to a weak v. We then add the past tense marker -i- and the "we" ending -mme to make saavuimme.
Why use tänne instead of täällä for "here"?
Finnish is very strict about expressing movement. Because the verb saapua (to arrive) implies moving to a destination, you have to use the directional word tänne (to here). You would only use täällä (at here) for static situations, like "we are here" (olemme täällä).
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