Breakdown of Maksan laskun kahdentenakymmenentenäensimmäisenä tammikuuta.
lasku
bill
tammikuu
January
maksaa
to pay
kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen
twenty-first
Questions & Answers about Maksan laskun kahdentenakymmenentenäensimmäisenä tammikuuta.
kahdentenakymmenentenäensimmäisenä is a huge word! How does it break down?
This means "on the twenty-first". When saying "on a date", Finnish uses the essive case (the -na or -nä ending). The base ordinal number for 21st is kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen (second-tenth-first). In Finnish, every single part of a compound number must take the essive ending: kahdentena (on the second) + kymmenentenä (on the tenth) + ensimmäisenä (on the first).
Why is the month tammikuuta in the partitive case?
When giving a date, the month takes the partitive case because you are referring to a single day out of that month (think of it as "of January"). Since tammikuu ends in two vowels, the partitive ending is -ta.
Why does the word for bill (lasku) have an -n at the end?
Laskun is the object of the sentence. Because you intend to pay the entire bill, it takes the total object case, which adds the -n ending. If you were only paying a portion of the bill, you would use the partitive case (laskua).
The English translation says "I will pay". Where is the future tense in maksan?
Finnish doesn't actually have a separate future tense! You just use the present tense verb maksan (I pay). The context of giving a specific future date, combined with the total object laskun, makes it completely clear that this is an action you will finish in the future.
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