Breakdown of Onko eräpäivä kahdentenakymmenentenäseitsemäntenä vai kahdentenakymmenentenäkahdeksantena?
olla
to be
vai
or (in questions)
kahdeskymmenesseitsemäs
twenty-seventh
eräpäivä
due date
kahdeskymmeneskahdeksas
twenty-eighth
Questions & Answers about Onko eräpäivä kahdentenakymmenentenäseitsemäntenä vai kahdentenakymmenentenäkahdeksantena?
Why are the words for "on the 27th" and "on the 28th" so incredibly long?
In Finnish, when a number is made of multiple words, every part of the number has to match the grammatical case. To say "on the 27th", you put the words for 2nd, 10th, and 7th all into the essive case. You combine kahdentena (on the 2nd), kymmenentenä (on the 10th), and seitsemäntenä (on the 7th) into one giant word: kahdentenakymmenentenäseitsemäntenä.
Why do we use the essive case (-na / -nä) here instead of just the basic ordinal number?
The essive case is used to express when something happens on a specific day, like a date or a day of the week. While the basic ordinal kahdeskymmenesseitsemäs just means "the 27th", adding the essive endings turns it into the time expression "on the 27th".
Why does "on the 27th" end in -nä but "on the 28th" ends in -na?
This is due to vowel harmony. For these long compound numbers, the vowel harmony is determined by the final part of the word. Seitsemäntenä has the front vowels e and ä, so it takes the front vowel ending -nä. Kahdeksantena has the back vowel a, so it takes the back vowel ending -na.
Why is the word for "or" vai here instead of tai?
Vai is used specifically in questions when you are offering mutually exclusive alternatives and asking the listener to pick one (an "either/or" question). If this were a regular statement, you would use tai.
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