Breakdown of Joka sekunti on loputon tässä ahtaassa hississä.
tämä
this
olla
to be
joka
every
hissi
elevator
ahdas
cramped
sekunti
second
loputon
endless
Questions & Answers about Joka sekunti on loputon tässä ahtaassa hississä.
Since this lesson is about time duration (the accusative of time), why is joka sekunti in the basic nominative case here?
In this sentence, joka sekunti is the actual subject of the sentence ("Every second is..."), not a duration expression. The accusative of time rules only apply when the time word tells you how long an action happens (acting like an object). Here, the second is just the thing being described.
How is the word loputon (endless) formed?
It comes from the noun loppu (end). Adding the suffix -ton creates an adjective meaning "without" something, functioning exactly like the English suffix "-less". Notice that the double pp in loppu weakens to a single p before the suffix, giving you loputon.
What is the dictionary form of ahtaassa, and how did it change to get this ending?
The dictionary form is ahdas (cramped/tight). Words ending in -as or -äs build their stem by replacing that ending with -aa- or -ää-. Also, consonant gradation happens in reverse for these words: the weak d in ahdas strengthens to a t in the stem ahtaa-. Finally, you just add the inessive ("in") ending -ssa to get ahtaassa.
Is joka (every) affected by case endings if the sentence changes?
joka is an indeclinable word when used as "every", meaning it never changes form. If you wanted to say "in every second", you could technically say joka sekunnissa, but Finnish speakers strongly prefer to switch to the related word jokainen (every/each) when cases are involved, making it jokaisessa sekunnissa.
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