Breakdown of Syntymäpäiväni on kahdentenakymmenentenätoisena helmikuuta.
olla
to be
helmikuu
February
syntymäpäivä
birthday
kahdeskymmenestoinen
twenty-second
Questions & Answers about Syntymäpäiväni on kahdentenakymmenentenätoisena helmikuuta.
Wow, kahdentenakymmenentenätoisena is a huge word! How do I break it down?
Let's split it into its three parts: 2nd + 10th + 2nd. The base form for 22nd is kahdeskymmenestoinen. When you put a compound ordinal number into a case like the essive, every single part has to inflect. So it becomes kahdentena (on the 2nd) + kymmenentenä (on the 10th) + toisena (on the 2nd).
Why is the essive case (-na / -nä) used for the date here?
In Finnish, the essive case is the standard way to say that something happens on a specific day or date. Just like you say maanantaina for on Monday, you use the essive for on the twenty-second.
Look closely at kahdentenakymmenentenätoisena. Why does the essive ending switch between -na and -nä inside the same word?
Great catch! Because compound numbers are formed by gluing separate words together, vowel harmony applies to each part individually. Kahdes and toinen have back vowels, so they take -na. Kymmenes has front vowels, so it takes -nä.
Why is the month helmikuuta in the partitive case?
When saying dates, the month is always in the partitive case. You can think of it as meaning 'of February' or 'a part of February'.
Do I need to say minun before syntymäpäiväni?
No, it is optional here. The possessive suffix -ni at the end of syntymäpäiväni already means 'my'. You could say minun syntymäpäiväni if you want to emphasize it, but the suffix alone is perfectly fine.
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