Breakdown of Meklari myy taulun kahdellakymmenelläkahdella eurolla.
euro
euro
myydä
to sell
kaksikymmentäkaksi
twenty-two
taulu
painting
Questions & Answers about Meklari myy taulun kahdellakymmenelläkahdella eurolla.
How is the number 22 formed here, and why is every part in the adessive case?
The base number is kaksikymmentäkaksi (twenty-two). In Finnish, when a compound number takes a case ending, every part of the number must decline into that case. Here, the number is in the adessive case. Kaksi becomes kahdella, and kymmenen becomes kymmenellä. Strung together, you get kahdellakymmenelläkahdella.
Why use the adessive case (-lla/-llä) for the price?
In Finnish, the adessive case is used to indicate the price at which something is bought, sold, or rented. While in English you say "sells for 22 euros", Finnish expresses this by putting both the number and the currency in the adessive: kahdellakymmenelläkahdella eurolla.
Wait, why does "kymmenellä" use "-llä" while "kahdella" uses "-lla" inside the same word?
Even though it's written as one long compound word, vowel harmony applies to each number word individually. Kaksi contains the back vowel 'a', so it takes -lla (kahdella). Kymmenen contains front vowels ('y', 'e'), so it takes -llä (kymmenellä).
Why is the painting "taulun" instead of "taulua"?
Taulun is the total object. The auctioneer is selling one specific, entire painting, and the action is finite. Therefore, the object takes the genitive-looking accusative -n ending rather than the partitive -a.