Breakdown of Tämä uudistus vaikuttaa joko kouluun tai sairaalaan.
tämä
this
tai
or
koulu
school
sairaala
the hospital
joko
either
uudistus
reform
vaikuttaa
to affect
Questions & Answers about Tämä uudistus vaikuttaa joko kouluun tai sairaalaan.
How do we use joko ... tai in this sentence?
The pair joko ... tai means "either ... or". Just like in English, they are placed right in front of the two alternatives. Notice how both alternatives match grammatically: joko kouluun (either to the school) tai sairaalaan (or to the hospital).
Why are the words for school and hospital in the illative case (kouluun, sairaalaan)?
This is because of the verb vaikuttaa (to affect / to influence). In Finnish, this verb always requires its target to be in the illative case (the "into" case). You can think of it as an action that reaches into a place or thing.
Why do we use tai here instead of vai for "or"?
Vai is only used in direct questions where the listener must choose between options (like "Is it Monday or Tuesday?"). Because this sentence is a statement, we have to use tai. The fixed pair is always joko ... tai.
How is the word uudistus (reform) formed?
It comes from the common adjective uusi (new). From there, you get the verb uudistaa (to renew / to reform). Finally, adding the -us ending turns that verb into the noun uudistus (a renewal / a reform).
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