Breakdown of He juhlivat minun syntymäpäivääni kahdentenakymmenentenä lokakuuta.
minä
I
he
they
lokakuu
October
juhlia
to party / to celebrate
syntymäpäivä
birthday
kahdeskymmenes
twentieth
Questions & Answers about He juhlivat minun syntymäpäivääni kahdentenakymmenentenä lokakuuta.
How do we build the word kahdentenakymmenentenä (on the twentieth)?
The number 20 is kaksikymmentä, and its ordinal form (twentieth) is kahdeskymmenes. In Finnish, to say 'on' a certain day, we put the ordinal number into the essive case (which ends in -na or -nä). For compound numbers like 20, both parts of the word must change to the essive case, resulting in kahdentenakymmenentenä.
Why is the month lokakuu in the partitive case (lokakuuta)?
When expressing dates, the month always takes the partitive case. You can think of this as literally saying 'on the twentieth out of October' or 'of October'.
Why is the word for birthday, syntymäpäivääni, also in the partitive case here?
The verb juhlia (to celebrate) is a partitive verb, meaning the thing being celebrated must be in the partitive case. The base word syntymäpäivä becomes syntymäpäivää, and then we add the possessive suffix -ni (my) to the very end.
Since the suffix -ni already means 'my', is the word minun necessary?
No, it is optional! The possessive suffix -ni alone is enough to show that it is your birthday. Including minun before the word just adds a little extra emphasis.
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