Breakdown of Haluamme onnitella hääparia tästä avioliitosta.
tämä
this
haluta
to want
onnitella
to congratulate
hääpari
wedding couple
Questions & Answers about Haluamme onnitella hääparia tästä avioliitosta.
Why is 'this marriage' translated using the elative case (tästä avioliitosta)?
This is the main rule for the verb onnitella (to congratulate). It requires the reason for congratulations to be in the elative case (-sta or -stä). While in English you congratulate someone 'on' something, in Finnish you congratulate them 'out of' it.
Why is the wedding couple in the partitive case (hääparia)?
The verb onnitella takes a partitive object. This means the person you are congratulating must be in the partitive case. Together with the elative, the formula is: onnitella + partitive person + elative reason.
Why does tämä (this) become tästä here?
In Finnish, pronouns must agree with the grammatical case of the noun they describe. Because the verb onnitella forces avioliitto into the elative case (avioliitosta), the word for 'this' must also take the elative ending, becoming tästä.
What are the parts of the compound word avioliitto?
It is made up of avio (marital) and liitto (union or alliance). A marriage in Finnish is literally a 'marital union'.