Learn Finnish: Välitätkö tulevaisuudestamme? - Do you care about our future?

The verb välittää (to care) is an emotion verb that requires what you are caring about to be in the elative case (-sta/-stä). In English, we say "care about," and in Finnish, that "about" relationship is handled by combining this specific verb with the elative case.

How does the word "tulevaisuus" (future) change into the stem "tulevaisuude-"?

Nouns ending in -uus or -yys have a basic stem that ends in -uute- or -yyte-. When we add the elative ending -sta, it closes the final syllable. This triggers consonant gradation, weakening the strong t to a d and giving us the stem tulevaisuude- before adding the suffixes.

What is the exact order of the word endings in "tulevaisuudestamme"?

Case endings always come before possessive suffixes. Here, we start with the stem tulevaisuude-, add the elative case ending -sta (about), and finally attach the possessive suffix -mme (our).

Does the verb "välittää" always mean "to care"?

Not always! While it means "to care about" when combined with the elative case, välittää can also mean "to forward" or "to pass on" (like passing on a message). In this sentence, the elative ending makes it completely clear that it means "caring about" our future.