Breakdown of Lapsi aikuistuu ja muuttaa pois vuoden kuluttua.
ja
and
lapsi
child
vuosi
year
pois
away
kuluttua
after, in (time)
muuttaa
to move (relocate)
aikuistua
to grow up
Questions & Answers about Lapsi aikuistuu ja muuttaa pois vuoden kuluttua.
Why is it vuoden kuluttua instead of just vuosi kuluttua?
The postposition kuluttua means 'in' or 'after' a certain amount of time. It always requires the time word before it to be in the genitive case, which is why vuosi (year) becomes vuoden.
Could I use päästä instead of kuluttua in this sentence?
Yes, you can say vuoden päästä, which means the exact same thing as vuoden kuluttua ('in a year'). Both are postpositions of future time that require the genitive case. päästä is often more common in everyday spoken Finnish.
How does the verb aikuistuu relate to the word for adult?
It is derived from the noun/adjective aikuinen (adult). The -tua ending is often used in Finnish to create verbs that mean 'to become' something. So aikuistua literally means 'to become an adult' or 'to grow up'.
The English translation says 'will become' and 'will move', but aren't the verbs here in the present tense?
Exactly. Finnish does not have a separate future tense. You use the present tense verbs aikuistuu and muuttaa, and the context clue vuoden kuluttua ('in a year') tells you that the action happens in the future.
I thought muuttaa meant 'to change'. Why does it mean 'to move' here?
The verb muuttaa has two common meanings: 'to change' something, and 'to move' homes. Here, it is paired with the directional word pois (away), making it clear that it refers to moving residences. If you wanted to say the child themselves changes, you would use the reflexive verb muuttua.
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