Breakdown of Sää muuttuu vähittäin kylmäksi.
kylmä
cold
sää
the weather
muuttua
to change
vähittäin
gradually
Questions & Answers about Sää muuttuu vähittäin kylmäksi.
How is the adverb vähittäin formed in this sentence?
It is formed by taking the plural stem of vähä (little) and adding the distributive suffix -ittäin. While this suffix often translates to 'by the' or 'in groups of' (like day by day), here vähittäin specifically means 'little by little' or 'gradually'.
Why does vähittäin use the -ittäin ending instead of -ittain?
This is due to vowel harmony. The root word vähä contains the front vowel ä. Therefore, the suffix must also use front vowels, making it -ittäin rather than the back-vowel version -ittain.
Why is the word for cold, kylmä, written as kylmäksi here?
The translative case (ending in -ksi) is used to show a change of state. The verb muuttua (to change or turn into) always requires the resulting state to be in the translative case. Since the weather is turning into a cold state, kylmä becomes kylmäksi.
Could I use vähittäin to mean 'a little bit' in a sentence like 'I speak a little bit of Finnish'?
No, vähittäin describes a gradual process over time, meaning 'little by little'. If you want to say you speak or have 'a little bit' of something, you should just use the basic word vähän.
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