Breakdown of Opiskelijat keskustelevat kirjasta ryhmittäin.
kirja
book
opiskelija
student
keskustella
to discuss
ryhmittäin
in groups
Questions & Answers about Opiskelijat keskustelevat kirjasta ryhmittäin.
How does the word ryhmittäin get the meaning 'in groups'?
It uses the distributive suffix -ittäin, which expresses how things are grouped, arranged, or measured. When added to ryhmä (group), it turns the noun into an adverb meaning 'in groups' or 'by groups'.
Why do we use -ittäin here instead of -ittain?
Because of vowel harmony. The root word ryhmä contains the front vowels y and ä, so the suffix must also use the front vowel ä, becoming -ittäin.
What happens to the final letter of ryhmä when adding this suffix?
The suffix -ittain/-ittäin always starts with an i. When adding it to a word ending in a short a or ä like ryhmä, that final vowel drops out completely. So ryhmä becomes ryhm-, and we add -ittäin to get ryhmittäin.
Why is the word for book in the elative case (kirjasta)?
The verb keskustella (to discuss) requires the topic you are discussing to be in the elative case (ending in -sta or -stä). While in English we just discuss a book, in Finnish you conceptually discuss 'about' the book.