Breakdown of Kiitämme kaasoa tästä upeasta puheesta.
tämä
this
kiittää
to thank
kaaso
maid of honor
upea
wonderful (magnificent, gorgeous)
Questions & Answers about Kiitämme kaasoa tästä upeasta puheesta.
Why do we use the elative case (-sta/-stä) for "this wonderful speech"?
This is because of the verb rection for kiittää (to thank). It requires the thing you are thanking someone for to be in the elative case. So instead of using a separate word for "for", the entire phrase takes the -sta/-stä ending.
Why is kaaso (maid of honor) in the partitive case here (kaasoa)?
The verb kiittää also dictates how the person being thanked is treated. The person you are thanking is the object of the verb and must always be in the partitive case. Therefore, kaaso becomes kaasoa.
Why do both tämä (this) and upea (wonderful) change to tästä upeasta?
In Finnish, adjectives and demonstrative pronouns (like "this" or "that") must agree with the case of the noun they describe. Since kiittää forces the noun puhe into the elative case (puheesta), the modifiers tämä and upea must also take the elative case, becoming tästä upeasta.
How does the word puhe (speech) change into puheesta?
Puhe is a noun ending in -e. As a reminder from earlier lessons, when you add case endings to these words, the final -e is doubled to form the stem. So puhe becomes the stem puhee-, and then you attach the elative ending -sta.