Breakdown of Olivatko häät kahdeksantenatoista? Minä en muista vuosipäivää.
olla
to be
minä
I
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
muistaa
to remember
Questions & Answers about Olivatko häät kahdeksantenatoista? Minä en muista vuosipäivää.
How do you form the word kahdeksantenatoista?
This is the ordinal number for "eighteenth" (kahdeksastoista) in the essive case, which is used to express that an event happened "on" a certain date. For numbers 11-19, only the first part of the number changes. The word kahdeksas (eighth) takes the essive ending to become kahdeksantena, while the -toista part stays exactly the same.
Why does the sentence use the plural verb olivatko ("were") when the English translation says "was the wedding"?
In Finnish, the word for "wedding" (häät) is always a plural word. Just like how "scissors" or "pants" are always plural in English, häät requires a plural verb. Therefore, the verb olla (to be) takes the plural past tense form olivat, and the question particle -ko is attached to ask a yes/no question.
Why is the word for anniversary (vuosipäivä) written in the partitive case as vuosipäivää?
It is in the partitive case because it is the object of a negative action (en muista, meaning "I do not remember"). In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence must always take the partitive case.