Questions & Answers about Nuo ovat vainajan kengät.
How would I use the word kenen to ask the question that this sentence answers?
You would ask, Kenen kengät nuo ovat? (Whose shoes are those?). Kenen is the genitive (possessive) form of kuka (who), and it usually goes directly in front of the noun being possessed, just like vainajan (the deceased's) does in this statement.
Why use nuo instead of ne for "those"?
Nuo specifically means "those over there" (pointing to something visible but not right next to you). Ne is often translated as "they" or "those" when referring to things previously mentioned in the conversation, rather than physically pointing them out in the environment.
Why is kengät in the plural form with a -t at the end, but vainajan isn't?
Kengät is the nominative plural (shoes), matching the plural subject nuo (those). However, vainajan is in the genitive singular because it refers to one deceased person owning the shoes. If it were multiple deceased people, you would use the genitive plural: vainajien kengät.
The singular word for shoe is kenkä. Why does it change to kengät with a g here?
This is due to consonant gradation, a rule you have met before. When adding the plural -t ending, the final syllable becomes closed. This triggers a change in the word stem, softening the strong nk in kenkä to a weak ng in kengät.
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