Breakdown of Tänään on kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen, ja tapaaminen on kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä.
olla
to be
ja
and
tänään
today
tapaaminen
meeting
kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen
twenty-first
kahdeskymmenesviides
twenty-fifth
Questions & Answers about Tänään on kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen, ja tapaaminen on kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä.
How is the word for the 21st, kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen, built?
In Finnish, every part of a compound number becomes an ordinal. For the 21st, you combine the ordinals for two (kahdes), ten (kymmenes), and one (ensimmäinen) into a single word: kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen.
Why is the word for 25th in the essive case here, while the 21st is not?
To say that something happens on a specific day or date, you use the essive case (which ends in -na or -nä). Since the meeting happens on the 25th, the basic ordinal kahdeskymmenesviides becomes kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä. For the 21st, you just use the basic nominative form because nothing is happening on it; you are just stating what today is.
How does kahdeskymmenesviides transform into its essive form kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä?
When putting a compound ordinal number into the essive case, every single part of the number takes the essive ending. kahdes (second) becomes kahdentena, kymmenes (tenth) becomes kymmenentenä, and viides (fifth) becomes viidentenä. String them all together and you get the massive word kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä.
Why does the essive ending switch between -na and -nä in kahdentenakymmenentenäviidentenä?
Because of vowel harmony! Even though it is written as one giant word, the vowel harmony rules apply to each part individually based on its own vowels. kahdentena takes -na because of the back vowel a, while kymmenentenä and viidentenä take -nä because they only contain front vowels (y, e, i).
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