Learn Finnish: Odotan sinua kahdentenakymmenentenäkolmantena tai kahdentenakymmenentenäneljäntenä. - I wait for you on the twenty-third or on the twenty-fourth.

Odotan sinua kahdentenakymmenentenäkolmantena tai kahdentenakymmenentenäneljäntenä.

I wait for you on the twenty-third or on the twenty-fourth.

Breakdown of Odotan sinua kahdentenakymmenentenäkolmantena tai kahdentenakymmenentenäneljäntenä.

Questions & Answers about Odotan sinua kahdentenakymmenentenäkolmantena tai kahdentenakymmenentenäneljäntenä.

Wow, kahdentenakymmenentenäkolmantena is a huge word! How is it built?

It means "on the twenty-third". To say "on a certain date", Finnish uses the essive case (the -na or -nä ending). The tricky part is that for compound numbers, every single part of the number gets the ending. It breaks down into three parts: kahdentena (2nd) + kymmenentenä (10th) + kolmantena (3rd).

How do words like kahdes (2nd) or kolmas (3rd) turn into kahdentena and kolmantena?

Ordinal numbers that end in -s in their basic form (like kahdes, kymmenes, kolmas, and neljäs) change that -s into -nte- before adding most case endings. After finding that stem, you just add the essive ending -na or -nä.

Why does the ending switch between -na and -nä within the exact same word?

Because of vowel harmony! Even though it is written as one giant word, each part of the compound number follows its own vowel harmony rules. Kahdente- has an a, so it takes -na. Kymmenente- has a y, so it takes -nä. Kolmante- has an o, so it goes back to -na.