Breakdown of Me emme tottuneet kylmään säähän.
me
we
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
kylmä
cold
sää
the weather
tottua
to get used to
Questions & Answers about Me emme tottuneet kylmään säähän.
Why are kylmään and säähän in the illative ("into") case here?
The verb tottua (to get used to) is a rection verb that requires the illative case. While in English you get used "to" something, in Finnish you get used "into" it.
Why does sää become säähän with an extra h in the illative case?
Normally, the illative case is formed by doubling the last vowel and adding n (like kylmä becoming kylmään). However, for short words ending in two of the same vowels, you add -hVn (where V is that same vowel). Because sää ends in a double ä, we add -hän to make säähän.
Why does the adjective kylmä (cold) also have to be in the illative case?
In Finnish, adjectives must match the case of the noun they describe. Since the verb tottua forces the noun sää into the illative case, the adjective describing it must also take the illative ending, becoming kylmään.
How is the negative past tense formed in emme tottuneet?
To say that "we didn't" do something, you use the negative verb emme followed by the past participle of the main verb. Because the subject me (we) is plural, the main verb takes the plural past participle ending -neet, turning tottua into tottuneet.
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