Breakdown of Jokainen lahjoitus on merkittävä.
olla
to be
jokainen
every / each (declinable)
lahjoitus
donation
merkittävä
significant
Questions & Answers about Jokainen lahjoitus on merkittävä.
Why are jokainen and lahjoitus in their basic forms here?
They form the subject of the sentence. The pronoun jokainen (every) always has to match the noun it describes in both case and number. Since the noun lahjoitus (donation) is in the nominative (basic) case here, jokainen is too.
How would jokainen lahjoitus change if it needed a different case, like the elative (from / out of)?
Both words must inflect and match each other. The inflection stem for jokainen is jokaise- and the stem for lahjoitus is lahjoitukse-. To say 'from every donation', you would add the -sta ending to both stems, making it jokaisesta lahjoituksesta.
Does jokainen always take a singular verb?
Yes. Just like in English, the word jokainen (each / every) treats the group as individual items. It pairs with a singular noun and takes a singular verb, which is why we use on instead of the plural ovat.
What kind of word is merkittävä?
It is an adjective derived from the verb merkitä (to mean, to signify). The -vä ending is a participle marker that turns the verb into an adjective, so merkittävä literally translates to 'signifying' but is used to mean 'significant'.