Breakdown of Me maksamme laskun kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä päivänä.
me
we
päivä
day
lasku
bill
maksaa
to pay
kahdeskymmenesyhdeksäs
twenty-ninth
Questions & Answers about Me maksamme laskun kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä päivänä.
Why is the word for "twenty-ninth" so incredibly long?
In Finnish, when a number like 29 (kaksikymmentäyhdeksän) becomes an ordinal (29th), every single part of the number becomes an ordinal. It translates literally to "second-tenth-ninth". Then, because we are saying "on the 29th", every part must also take the essive case ending.
How do you build the word kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä step by step?
First, find the ordinal stem for each part: kahdente- (2nd), kymmenente- (10th), and yhdeksänte- (9th). Then, add the essive ending to each part based on vowel harmony: -na for the first part, and -nä for the last two. Putting them together gives you kahdentena + kymmenentenä + yhdeksäntenä.
Why are the number and päivänä (day) in the essive case?
The essive case (adding -na or -nä) is the standard way to express days of the week or specific dates when something happens. Because Finnish requires matching cases, both the long number and the noun it describes (päivä) must take this ending to mean "on the twenty-ninth day".
Why does the word for bill (lasku) have an -n ending here?
The -n shows that laskun is the total object of the verb. It means we are paying the entire bill, completing the action. If we were only paying a portion of it, or if the action was incomplete, we would use the partitive case (laskua).
Learn Me maksamme laskun kahdentenakymmenentenäyhdeksäntenä päivänä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free