Questions & Answers about Heilläkin on yhteinen tavoite.
Why is the -kin suffix attached to heillä instead of another word in the sentence?
In Finnish, the -kin suffix attaches directly to the word it emphasizes. By adding it to heillä, the sentence specifically points out that they, too, have this goal, in addition to whoever else we were just talking about.
Does the -kin suffix always go at the very end of the word?
Yes! The -kin suffix always sits at the absolute end of a word, after all other case endings. Here, the case ending -llä comes first to form heillä, and then -kin is added to make heilläkin.
Why is the verb on singular when heillä refers to multiple people?
In the Finnish ownership structure, the verb is always the third-person singular on (is), regardless of who owns the thing. The sentence literally translates to: On them also is a common goal.
Why is the word for goal, tavoite, in its basic form here?
Because tavoite is a single, countable thing. In the Finnish ownership structure, when someone has one whole object, that object stays in the basic form (nominative). If they had multiple goals, the word would need the partitive case.