Breakdown of Tämäkin opiskelija harrastaa jalkapalloa.
tämä
this
opiskelija
student
jalkapallo
football
-kin
also / too (suffix)
harrastaa
to have as a hobby
Questions & Answers about Tämäkin opiskelija harrastaa jalkapalloa.
Why is the -kin ending on Tämä instead of opiskelija?
In Finnish, the -kin ending attaches to the exact word that is being emphasized as 'also' or 'too'. By putting it on the word tämä (this), the sentence emphasizes that this specific student (in addition to other students) plays football. If it were attached to the noun as opiskelijakin, it would emphasize that a student does it (in addition to a teacher, for example).
Why is jalkapallo in the partitive case (jalkapalloa)?
The verb harrastaa (to do as a hobby) always requires the activity to be in the partitive case. That is why jalkapallo (football) becomes jalkapalloa.
Does harrastaa just mean 'to play'?
Not exactly. Harrastaa specifically means to do something regularly as a hobby. In English, we say 'plays football', but in Finnish, using harrastaa shows it is a regular hobby. If you just meant playing a game right now, you would use the verb pelata instead.
Because -kin is on Tämä, does opiskelija also need a special ending?
No, opiskelija stays in its basic form here. While Finnish usually makes words match in case endings (like tässä talossa), the -kin ending is a clitic, not a grammatical case. It just attaches to the end of a fully formed word and doesn't force the next word to copy it.
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