Word
Onko ottelu kolmantenatoista? Kalenteri on tyhjä.
Meaning
Is the match on the thirteenth? The calendar is empty.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Onko ottelu kolmantenatoista? Kalenteri on tyhjä.
olla
to be
tyhjä
empty
kolmastoista
thirteenth
ottelu
match
Questions & Answers about Onko ottelu kolmantenatoista? Kalenteri on tyhjä.
How do we get the word kolmantenatoista from the number 13?
The basic number for 13 is kolmetoista, and the ordinal number "13th" is kolmastoista. To say on the 13th, we use the essive case (-na / -nä). The word kolmas (third) uses the stem kolmante-, so adding -na makes it kolmantenatoista.
Why doesn't the -toista part change at the end of kolmantenatoista?
In Finnish numbers from 11 to 19, the -toista ending (which literally means "of the second") is frozen. When you put a "teen" number into a different grammatical case, only the first part of the number changes. That is why kolmas changes to kolmantena, but -toista stays exactly the same.
Why do we use the essive case (-na) for the date here?
The essive case is the standard way to express when something happens on a specific day or date. Just like you say maanantaina to mean "on Monday", you use kolmantenatoista to mean "on the thirteenth".
Why is tyhjä (empty) in the basic nominative form instead of the partitive case?