Questions & Answers about Keilataan ensin ja sitten me syödään.
Why does keilataan translate to "let's bowl" but me syödään translates to "we will eat"? Aren't they both passive verbs?
Yes, both are in the passive form! The difference is the pronoun me (we). When you use me with a passive verb in spoken Finnish, it acts as a regular statement: "we do" or "we will do" (me syödään). If you drop the me and just use the passive verb, it becomes a suggestion: "Let's do it!" (Keilataan).
How do you form the passive keilataan from the verb keilata?
Keilata (to bowl) is a verb type 4. Forming the present passive for type 4 verbs is very easy: you just take the dictionary form (keilata) and add -an or -än to the end. That gives us keilataan.
What about syödään? How is that formed from syödä?
Syödä is a verb type 2. To form the passive for type 2 (and type 3) verbs, you remove the infinitive ending (the -dä in syödä) to get the stem (syö-), and then add the passive ending -dään. This gives you syödään.
Is the word ensin related to ensimmäinen (first)?