Breakdown of Näkö on heikko molemmissa silmissä.
olla
to be
silmä
eye
molemmat
both (of them)
heikko
weak
näkö
vision
Questions & Answers about Näkö on heikko molemmissa silmissä.
Why is molemmat written as molemmissa here?
Molemmat means "both". Because it describes silmissä (in the eyes), it must match its case. The base form is molemmat, but in plural local cases like the inessive (in/inside), the stem changes to molemmi-. Adding the ending -ssa gives us molemmissa (in both).
I notice the stem is molemmi- with a double "m". Does it ever have an "mp"?
Yes! The word molemmat inflects very much like a comparative adjective. In weak grades, such as before the closed inessive ending -ssa, it uses the weak stem -mmi- (molemmissa). In strong grades, like the illative (into), it uses the strong stem -mpi-, making it molempiin (into both).
Why is the word for "eyes" written as silmissä instead of silmässä?
Because we are talking about "both" (molemmat) eyes, the noun must be in the plural. To make the plural inessive (in the eyes), the plural marker -i- is added between the word stem and the case ending. This drops the final -ä from silmä, changing silmässä (in the eye) to silmissä (in the eyes).
Is the noun näkö related to the verb nähdä (to see)?
Exactly. Näkö (vision, sight) is a noun derived directly from the verb nähdä. You will see this noun-building pattern often in Finnish, such as with tehdä (to do) becoming teko (an act) or lentää (to fly) becoming lento (a flight).
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