Breakdown of Kaksikymmentä mehiläistä tuottaa hunajaa talveksi.
kaksikymmentä
twenty
talvi
winter
tuottaa
to produce
mehiläinen
bee
hunaja
honey
Questions & Answers about Kaksikymmentä mehiläistä tuottaa hunajaa talveksi.
Why is the verb tuottaa (produces) in the singular when the subject is twenty bees?
In Finnish, when the subject of a sentence is a number greater than one (like kaksikymmentä), the verb always takes the 3rd person singular form. Grammatically, the number itself acts as a singular subject, so you say 'twenty produces' (kaksikymmentä tuottaa) instead of 'twenty produce'.
Is mehiläistä a singular or plural word here?
Why is hunajaa in the partitive case?
Hunaja (honey) is an uncountable mass noun. Because the bees are producing an undefined amount of it (just 'honey', not a specific, countable whole), it takes the partitive case as the object of the sentence.
What case is talveksi, and how does it translate to 'for the winter'?
Talveksi is in the translative case, marked by the -ksi ending. While you might remember the translative for showing a change of state (becoming something), it is also used in time expressions to mean a timeframe or deadline, like 'for' a specific period or purpose.
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