Breakdown of Muiden autojen tavaratila on liian pieni meille.
olla
to be
auto
car
me
we
pieni
small
muu
other, else
liian
too (excessively)
tavaratila
trunk
Questions & Answers about Muiden autojen tavaratila on liian pieni meille.
Why is it muiden autojen instead of toisten autojen here?
Muu means "other" in the sense of "the rest" or "different ones in general." Toinen is used when referring to a specific alternative, "another" (one more), or "the other" of a specific pair or set. Here, the speaker is comparing their car to all other cars in general, so the plural genitive of muu (muiden) is the natural choice.
How do we get the form muiden from muu?
Muiden is the plural genitive case of muu. To form the plural genitive for short words ending in a long vowel, you typically add the suffix -iden or -itten. So, the root muu becomes muiden.
Since we are talking about multiple cars, why is tavaratila (trunk) in the singular?
Finnish often uses the singular form for items or body parts that each member of a group possesses exactly one of. Since each car has one trunk, Finnish uses the singular tavaratila where English would usually use the plural "trunks."
Why is me (we) in the allative case meille in this sentence?
The allative case (ending in -lle) is often taught as movement "onto" something, but it is also used to mean "for" someone when expressing an opinion, feeling, or suitability. Because the trunk is too small "for us," the pronoun takes the allative form meille.
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