Breakdown of Taitava kilpailija saa mitalin.
saada
to get
kilpailija
competitor
taitava
skillful
mitali
medal
Questions & Answers about Taitava kilpailija saa mitalin.
Why is the object mitalin instead of the partitive mitalia?
The verb saada (to get or receive) represents an action with a clear endpoint. Because the competitor is getting a complete, single, countable object (the whole medal), Finnish uses the total object form with the -n ending rather than the partitive case.
How is the noun kilpailija formed?
It is derived from the verb kilpailla (to compete). By adding the suffix -ja to the verb stem, you create a word for the person doing that action. It works just like adding '-er' or '-or' in English (compete -> competitor, opettaa -> opettaja).
This lesson focuses on the superlative adverb (-immin). How would we turn taitava into a superlative adverb?
To say 'most skillfully', you first need the basic adverb form of taitava (skillful), which is taitavasti (skillfully). Then, you replace the -sti ending with the superlative adverb marker -immin. This gives you taitavimmin, as in: Hän kilpaili taitavimmin (They competed most skillfully).