Breakdown of Saavumme perille viimeistään maanantaina.
maanantai
Monday
saapua
to arrive
perille
to the destination
viimeistään
at the latest
Questions & Answers about Saavumme perille viimeistään maanantaina.
The current lesson is about deadlines using 'mennessä' (by). Why does this sentence use 'viimeistään' instead?
Both express a deadline, but they work differently grammatically. Viimeistään is an adverb meaning 'at the latest'. Because it is not a postposition, the day of the week stays in its normal essive case: maanantaina (on Monday). If you wanted to use mennessä, you would need the illative case: maanantaihin mennessä (by Monday).
Why is 'perille' used here for 'at the destination'?
Perille is the standard adverb used with arriving to mean 'to the destination'. It literally comes from the word perä (the end or rear) in the allative case (-lle, onto). The phrase saapua perille is the most natural way to say you made it to where you were going.
In English we arrive 'at' a destination. Why does 'perille' use the directional 'onto' (-lle) case?
What is the base word for 'viimeistään'?
It is based on the adjective viimeinen (last). Viimeistään is a frozen superlative form that translates perfectly to the English phrase 'at the latest'.
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