Breakdown of Nuoresta naisesta tulee psykologi, koska hän on kunnianhimoisempi.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
nainen
woman
koska
because
nuori
young
tulla
to become
kunnianhimoinen
ambitious
psykologi
the psychologist
Questions & Answers about Nuoresta naisesta tulee psykologi, koska hän on kunnianhimoisempi.
Why is "nuoresta naisesta" in the elative case (ending in -sta) instead of being a normal subject?
This is the core of the tulla transformation construction. When expressing that someone "becomes" something, the original person or thing takes the elative case (literally "out of"). So nuoresta naisesta tulee... translates literally to "Out of the young woman comes...". Notice that the adjective nuori (young) must match the noun and also takes the -sta ending to become nuoresta.
Why is the result, "psykologi", in the basic nominative case?
In this specific construction (Elative + tulee + Nominative), the end result of the transformation is always put in the basic nominative case. Unlike some other sentences where roles or professions might take the essive case (ending in -na to mean "as a"), with tulla meaning "to become", what you become is always in its basic dictionary form.
How does the comparative word "kunnianhimoisempi" (more ambitious) get its ending?
The base adjective is kunnianhimoinen (ambitious). To form the comparative ("more [adjective]") for words ending in -inen, you drop the -nen and add the suffix -sempi. This reliable rule turns kunnianhimoinen into kunnianhimoisempi.
"Kunnianhimoinen" is quite a long word. What is it made of?
It is a compound word that is very logical when you break it down. It combines kunnia (honor or glory) in the genitive case (kunnian) with himo (lust or strong desire). Adding the common adjective suffix -inen to the end gives us kunnianhimoinen, which literally means "desirous of honor".
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