Breakdown of Pimeys kesti yhden tuskallisen minuutin.
yksi
one
minuutti
minute
kestää
to take time
pimeys
darkness
tuskallinen
agonizing
Questions & Answers about Pimeys kesti yhden tuskallisen minuutin.
Why are yksi, tuskallinen, and minuutti in the genitive case with the -n ending?
This is the accusative of time. When you express the total duration of an action, the time phrase follows the same rules as a total object. Because this sentence has a normal subject (pimeys), the time duration takes the -n ending, just like a regular total object would.
Why does the number yksi change to yhden here?
When a number and noun act as a basic subject, only the noun changes to the partitive case. But when the whole phrase is put into a different case, like the accusative of time here, the number and all adjectives must match that case. So, yksi becomes yhden to agree with tuskallisen minuutin.
I've seen kestää translated as to stand or to endure. How do I know it means lasted here?
It depends on the context. Kestää means both to endure or tolerate (as in En kestä tätä! meaning I can't stand this!) and to last in terms of time. Because it is paired with a specific time duration (yhden minuutin), it naturally translates to lasted here.
How is the word tuskallisen formed?
Its base form is the adjective tuskallinen (agonizing or painful). This is built from the noun tuska (agony or pain) plus the common adjective-forming suffix -llinen, which means having the quality of.
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