Breakdown of Kasvi lakastuu, jos kastelet sitä neljä kertaa viikossa.
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
neljä
four
kerta
time
jos
if
viikko
week
kastella
to water
kasvi
plant
lakastua
to wither
Questions & Answers about Kasvi lakastuu, jos kastelet sitä neljä kertaa viikossa.
How is the frequency phrase "neljä kertaa viikossa" constructed?
This follows the standard Finnish formula for frequency: Amount + Inessive case of the time period. The amount is neljä kertaa (four times), where kertaa is in the partitive case because it follows a number greater than one. The time period is viikko (week), which takes the inessive ending -ssa to mean "per week" or "in a week".
Why do we use the partitive word "sitä" instead of the accusative "sen" for "it"?
The verb kastella (to water) frequently takes a partitive object because the action is ongoing, repeated, or irresultative (meaning it doesn't have a final, completed endpoint). Here, you are doing the action repeatedly over time, so the pronoun se (it) becomes the partitive sitä.
Why is "lakastuu" in the present tense if the English translation says "will wither"?
Finnish does not have a dedicated future tense. Instead, it uses the present tense for both present and future actions. The context of the jos (if) clause makes it clear to a Finnish speaker that the withering is a future consequence.
What type of verb is "kastelet" and how is it formed from the dictionary word?
It comes from the verb kastella (to water), which is a verb type 3 (ending in two consonants plus a vowel). To conjugate it, you drop the final -la, add an -e- to make the stem kastele-, and then attach the personal ending -t for "you".
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