Log inSign up

Tie jatkuu rajalle asti.

Tie jatkuu rajalle asti.
The road continues as far as the border.
From Lesson 225:Deadlines and limits (asti, saakka, mennessä)·Finnish

Questions & Answers about Tie jatkuu rajalle asti.

Why is the word raja (border) in the allative case (rajalle) here?
The postposition asti (as far as / up to) requires the word before it to be in a directional case, like the illative ("into") or allative ("onto/to"). Because you usually travel to a border (rajalle), it stays in the allative case when you add asti to mean "all the way to the border".
Could I use saakka instead of asti in this sentence?
Yes, Tie jatkuu rajalle saakka is perfectly correct. The postpositions asti and saakka are completely interchangeable when talking about physical limits or points in time.
Why use the verb jatkuu instead of jatkaa for "continues"?
Jatkua (jatkuu) is an intransitive verb, meaning something continues on its own state (like a road, a movie, or the weather). Jatkaa is transitive, used when a person actively continues an action or an object, like continuing a journey. Since the road isn't "doing" an action to an object, we use jatkuu.
Would it be wrong to say rajaan asti using the illative case instead?
No, rajaan asti is also correct. With physical limits, both the allative (rajalle) and illative (rajaan) cases work well with asti. The choice just mirrors whether you normally think of going to the border (rajalle) or into the border boundary (rajaan).

Learn Tie jatkuu rajalle asti and more in Finnish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Finnish →