Breakdown of Palasimme kahdentenatoista tammikuuta.
palata
to return
tammikuu
January
kahdestoista
twelfth
Questions & Answers about Palasimme kahdentenatoista tammikuuta.
Why does the word for 'twelfth' look so long here?
It is the essive case of kahdestoista (twelfth). To say 'on' a certain date, Finnish uses the essive ending -na. For numbers ending in -toista (11 to 19), only the first part changes: kahdes- becomes kahdentena-, and the -toista part just attaches to the end.
Why is tammikuuta in the partitive case?
When giving a full date, the month is always in the partitive case. You can think of it as meaning 'of January'. The base word is tammikuu, and we add the partitive ending -ta because it ends in two vowels.
What is the dictionary form of palasimme and how is the past tense formed here?
The dictionary form is palata (to return). To make it past tense (imperfect), verbs that end in -ata drop the -ta and add -si. Finally, we attach the personal ending -mme to show that 'we' did it.
Is it wrong to leave out the word me (we) before palasimme?
Not at all! The ending -mme already tells us who is returning. In Finnish, first and second-person pronouns (minä, sinä, me, te) can usually be dropped in everyday sentences.
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