Breakdown of Lähdemme kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä syyskuuta.
lähteä
to leave
syyskuu
September
kahdeskymmenesyhdeksäs
twenty-ninth
Questions & Answers about Lähdemme kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä syyskuuta.
How do I break down that massive word kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä?
It means "on the twenty-ninth". In Finnish, every part of a compound number must be in the ordinal form AND take the case ending. To say "on" a specific date, we use the essive case (-na or -nä). So this word is literally kahdentena (on the 2nd) + kymmenentenä (on the 10th) + yhdeksäntenä (on the 9th).
Why do the different parts of the number use different versions of the essive ending (-na vs. -nä)?
Each part of the compound word follows its own vowel harmony rules. Kahdentena uses the back vowel -na because of the a in its root (kaksi). However, kymmenentenä and yhdeksäntenä contain front vowels (e, y, ä), so they must take the front vowel ending -nä.
Why is the month syyskuuta in the partitive case here?
When saying dates in Finnish, the month is always put in the partitive case. You can think of it as saying "the twenty-ninth part of September".
The English translation says "We will leave", but isn't lähdemme the present tense?
Yes, lähdemme is the present tense of the verb lähteä (to leave). Finnish does not have a separate future tense, so the present tense is heavily used to talk about the future. The specific future date in the sentence makes it obvious that the action hasn't happened yet.
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