Breakdown of Miksi nuo vaatteet ovat noissa kasoissa?
olla
to be
tuo
that
miksi
why
vaate
the garment
kasa
pile
Questions & Answers about Miksi nuo vaatteet ovat noissa kasoissa?
How do we get noissa from the basic word for that (tuo)?
Tuo means 'that'. To say 'in those', we need the plural inessive case. First, the plural stem of tuo changes the t to an n and drops the u, making noi-. Then, we add the 'in' ending -ssa, giving us noissa.
Both nuo and noissa translate as 'those'. Why are they different here?
Nuo is the basic (nominative) plural, used here because nuo vaatteet (those clothes) is the subject of the sentence. Noissa is the plural inessive ('in those'), used because the clothes are located inside the piles (kasoissa). In Finnish, demonstrative pronouns like 'this' and 'that' must match the case of the noun they describe.
How is kasoissa (in piles) formed from its dictionary form?
If vaatteet is plural, why doesn't it have an -i- in it like noissa kasoissa does?
Vaatteet is in the nominative plural (the basic subject form), which just uses the ending -t at the end of the word. The plural marker -i- is only used when the word is in other cases, like the inessive case seen in kasoissa. Notice also the consonant gradation: the single t in vaate strengthens to a double tt in vaatteet.
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