Breakdown of Tämä on etäisyys, jolta emme voi palata.
tämä
this
olla
to be
ei
no / not (negative verb)
palata
to return
Questions & Answers about Tämä on etäisyys, jolta emme voi palata.
Why do we use jolta here instead of josta?
Jolta is the ablative ('from outside') case of the relative pronoun joka (which). We use the ablative because the word it refers to, etäisyys (distance), pairs with the outer local cases in Finnish. You are returning from at a distance (-lta), rather than from inside a distance (-sta).
Since the current lesson is about using the illative case for duration in negative sentences, why isn't there an illative word here?
This specific sentence doesn't actually contain a time expression! It expresses a physical distance (etäisyys) from which you cannot return. The grammar rule for negative duration (like 'for a week' translating to the illative viikkoon in negative sentences) doesn't apply here because we are talking about space, not time.
Why does palata stay in its basic dictionary form?
Palata (to return) follows the auxiliary verb voida (to be able to). When you chain verbs like this, the second verb stays in its basic infinitive form. The verb before it does the heavy lifting for the grammar, which in this case is the negative structure emme voi.
As a refresher, why is it emme voi instead of emme voimme?