Breakdown of Yhdistelmä sisältää sekä ensimmäisen että toisen tason.
toinen
other, another; second
että
that (conjunction)
ensimmäinen
first
sekä
both
Questions & Answers about Yhdistelmä sisältää sekä ensimmäisen että toisen tason.
How does the sekä ... että structure work in this sentence?
The phrase sekä ... että means "both ... and". In this sentence, it connects the two ordinal numbers modifying the noun: ensimmäisen (first) and toisen (second). Notice that just like in English, you do not need to repeat the noun tason (level) after the first number.
Doesn't että usually mean "that", like in the sentence "I know that..."?
Yes, on its own, että usually acts as a joining word meaning "that". However, when it is paired with sekä earlier in the sentence, the meaning changes. Together, the pair sekä ... että always translates to "both ... and".
Why do ensimmäisen, toisen, and tason all end in -n?
They form the object of the sentence. The verb sisältää (includes) needs an object to show exactly what is included. Because the bundle includes these levels completely, we use the total object case. For a singular object, this looks exactly like the genitive case with its -n ending. This ending must be attached to the noun tason as well as the words describing it.
What is the root of the word yhdistelmä?
It comes from the verb yhdistää, which means "to combine" or "to connect" (which in turn is related to yksi, meaning "one"). The -elmä ending is a common way to turn a verb into a noun in Finnish, making yhdistelmä a "combination" or "bundle".