Breakdown of Minä pyyhkäisin oikealle tässä sovelluksessa.
tämä
this
minä
I
oikea
right (direction)
sovellus
app
pyyhkäistä
to swipe
Questions & Answers about Minä pyyhkäisin oikealle tässä sovelluksessa.
The verb here is pyyhkäistä. How is that different from the more common verb pyyhkiä (to wipe)?
Pyyhkiä means to wipe something (like a table) continuously. The suffix -äistä in pyyhkäistä makes it a "momentane" verb, which describes a single, quick, or sudden action. This makes it the perfect word for describing a quick swipe on a phone screen!
Why is the word for "right" in the allative case (oikealle)?
In Finnish, when indicating a movement toward a specific direction or side, you use the allative case (the "onto" or "to" case). Oikealle literally translates to "toward the right". If you wanted to say you swiped left, you would use vasemmalle.
In English we say we do things "on" an app. Why does Finnish use the inessive case (sovelluksessa), which means "in"?
While English treats digital platforms like apps and websites as surfaces you are "on", Finnish usually treats them as enclosed digital environments or spaces that you are "in". You will also see this inessive case used with words like internetissä (on the internet) and puhelimessa (on the phone).
How would I use this lesson's topic to say "I didn't swipe right on either app"?
You would say: Minä en pyyhkäissyt oikealle kummassakaan sovelluksessa. Notice how the negative indefinite pronoun kumpikaan (neither) has to agree with the inessive case of sovelluksessa, becoming kummassakaan (in neither).
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