Breakdown of Jompikumpi meistä ulkoiluttaa koiran huomenna.
koira
dog
me
we
huomenna
tomorrow
jompikumpi
either (of two)
Questions & Answers about Jompikumpi meistä ulkoiluttaa koiran huomenna.
Why do we use jompikumpi here instead of kumpikin?
jompikumpi means "either" (one or the other, but not both). kumpikin means "both" or "each of the two". Since only one person is going to walk the dog, jompikumpi is the correct choice.
Why is the verb ulkoiluttaa in the third-person singular form when the sentence talks about "us" (meistä)?
The actual subject of the sentence is the pronoun jompikumpi (either one), which is grammatically singular. The verb must agree with this singular subject, so it takes the basic "he/she/it" form, even though "of us" (meistä) is attached to it.
Why is the dog in the genitive-like form koiran rather than the partitive koiraa?
Walking the dog is viewed as a complete action that will be finished in the future. In affirmative sentences, a fully completed action takes a total object, which looks like the genitive form (koiran) for singular nouns.
What kind of verb is ulkoiluttaa and how is it formed?
It is a causative verb, which means an action where you make someone else do something. It comes from the verb ulkoilla (to spend time outdoors). By adding the causative ending, it becomes ulkoiluttaa (to make someone spend time outdoors, which is how Finns say "to walk a pet").