Breakdown of Tuliko suurlähettiläs kokoukseen tulkkeineen?
tulla
to come
kokous
meeting (formal)
suurlähettiläs
ambassador
tulkki
interpreter
Questions & Answers about Tuliko suurlähettiläs kokoukseen tulkkeineen?
How do you build the comitative form in tulkkeineen?
It starts with tulkki (interpreter). The comitative is always built on the plural stem, which is tulkke-. We add the comitative marker -ine- (meaning "with"), and finally, a possessive suffix is attached to the very end—in this case, the third-person suffix -en (his/her/their).
Why is the possessive suffix -en mandatory here?
In standard Finnish, the comitative case is unique because it cannot be used on a noun without a possessive suffix. Even if you were just saying "with an interpreter" without emphasizing ownership, you still must attach the suffix corresponding to the subject of the sentence.
Since the comitative uses the plural stem, does tulkkeineen always mean plural "interpreters"?
Grammatically, the comitative always looks plural because of the -i- in the marker. However, in meaning, tulkkeineen can mean either "with her interpreter" (singular) or "with her interpreters" (plural). You have to rely on context to know which one it is!
Why does kokous (meeting) change to kokoukseen?