Questions & Answers about Lapsi ihastui uuteen lemmikkiin.
Why is "the new pet" in the illative case (uuteen lemmikkiin)? I thought illative usually meant moving "into" a place.
While the illative case often means moving into something physically, it is also required by certain verbs. The verb ihastua (to become fond of / to fall in love with) always forces the target of those feelings into the illative case. You can imagine the child's feelings going into the pet! This is an example of verb rection.
What is the base form of the verb ihastui?
The base verb is ihastua. In this sentence, it is in the past tense (the imperfect) for the third person singular, so ihastua becomes ihastui. You might recognize that it shares a root with the common adjective ihana (lovely, wonderful).
How did the word uusi (new) turn into uuteen?
Uusi belongs to a special group of older Finnish words that end in -si. When you add endings to these words, the -si changes to -te-. To make the illative case, you take that stem (uute-), double the last vowel, and add -n, resulting in uuteen.
Why does the double k in lemmikki stay strong in lemmikkiin? Shouldn't it weaken to a single k?
Consonant gradation (weakening) usually happens when an ending closes a syllable, like when adding -n for the genitive case (lemmikin). However, the illative ending here is formed by doubling the final vowel and adding -n (-iin). Because this ending starts with a long vowel, the syllable stays open, so the double k remains strong in lemmikkiin.
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