Questions & Answers about Tämä sotilas on puolustusta varten.
Doesn't sotilas normally mean "soldier"? Why is it translated as "pawn" here?
Yes, sotilas primarily means "soldier". However, in the context of board games like chess, it is the standard Finnish word for a "pawn".
Why is puolustus (defense) in the partitive case (puolustusta)?
The case is decided by the postposition varten (for / for the purpose of). While most Finnish postpositions require the noun before them to be in the genitive case (ending in -n), varten is one of the important exceptions that always requires the partitive case.
How is the partitive puolustusta formed from puolustus?
Words ending in -us or -ys (which are often nouns created from verbs, like puolustaa, to defend) form their partitive by changing the final -s to -sta or -stä.
Could I just use the allative case (puolustukselle) to mean "for defense" instead of using varten?
Not naturally in this context. While the -lle ending often translates to "for" when talking about who benefits from an action or who receives something, [partitive] + varten is specifically used to express "for the purpose of" or what a tool is intended to do.