Questions & Answers about Tämä rahasto auttaa väestöä.
How is the word rahasto (fund) formed?
It is formed by adding the collective suffix -sto to the noun raha (money). The -sto or -stö suffix turns a base word into a collective noun, meaning a group, collection, or system of that thing. So, a collection of money becomes a fund.
What is the base word for väestöä (population), and why does it use -stö instead of -sto?
The base word is väki, which means people or a crowd. It uses the -stö ending instead of -sto because of vowel harmony. The word väki contains front vowels (ä, e, i), so it requires the front vowel version of the suffix. Notice that the -i at the end of väki changes to an -e- before adding the suffix, making it väestö.
Why is väestöä in the partitive case here?
The verb auttaa (to help) is a partitive verb. In Finnish, whoever or whatever you are helping must always be in the partitive case. The base nominative form is väestö, and adding the partitive ending -ä gives us väestöä.
Since collective nouns like rahasto and väestö represent groups of things, do they take plural verbs?