Breakdown of Sinä voit luottaa paikalliseen oppaaseen.
sinä
you
voida
can, to be able to
opas
the guide
paikallinen
local
luottaa
to trust
Questions & Answers about Sinä voit luottaa paikalliseen oppaaseen.
Why is local guide translated as paikalliseen oppaaseen, which looks like into the local guide?
This is because of the verb luottaa (to trust). In Finnish, certain verbs demand that the word attached to them is in a specific case. This is called verb rection. The verb luottaa always requires the illative case, so you literally say that you trust into someone.
How do we get the form oppaaseen from the basic word opas (guide)?
The word opas belongs to a group of words ending in -as. To build the stem, the -s drops and the preceding vowel doubles, giving us the strong stem oppaa-. Notice the consonant gradation: the weak single -p- in opas becomes a strong double -pp- in the stem! The illative ending for a stem ending in a long vowel is -seen, making it oppaaseen.
Why does the adjective paikallinen (local) change to paikalliseen?
Adjectives must always match the case of the noun they describe. Finnish words ending in -nen change their ending to -se- before adding case endings. This makes the stem paikallise-. To form the illative, we lengthen the last vowel and add -n, resulting in paikalliseen.
Does the verb voit (can) play any role in choosing the illative case here?
No, it doesn't. The verb voida (to be able to) just requires the next verb to be in its basic dictionary form, which is why we use luottaa. It is strictly the verb luottaa that forces the object of your trust to be in the illative case (paikalliseen oppaaseen).
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