Breakdown of Suuri palvelus teki matkan unohtumattomaksi.
tehdä
to do
matka
trip
suuri
large, great
palvelus
favor
Questions & Answers about Suuri palvelus teki matkan unohtumattomaksi.
Why does unohtumattomaksi have the -ksi ending?
This is the translative case, which shows a change of state or a result. In Finnish, when you use the verb tehdä to say that you make something a certain way, the resulting adjective must be in the translative case. Here, the favor caused the trip to become unforgettable.
How do you get unohtumattomaksi from the dictionary form unohtumaton?
Adjectives ending in -maton have a stem that changes to -mattoma- before adding case endings. So, the base word unohtumaton changes to the stem unohtumattoma- before adding the translative ending -ksi.
Why is the object matkan in the genitive-like accusative case instead of the partitive matkaa?
The action is viewed as a completed whole and the result applies to the entire trip, so it takes a total object ending in -n. If the sentence were negative, the action would not be completed, so you would use the partitive case: Suuri palvelus ei tehnyt matkaa unohtumattomaksi.
Can I use tehdä like this for any adjective to mean that it made something a certain way?
Yes, this is a very common and productive pattern! You use tehdä plus the object plus the adjective in the translative case. For example, to say the news made me happy, you would say Uutinen teki minut iloiseksi.