Breakdown of Tämä kangas on kaksi metriä pitkä.
tämä
this
olla
to be
kaksi
two
kangas
fabric
pitkä
long, tall
metri
the meter
Questions & Answers about Tämä kangas on kaksi metriä pitkä.
Why is the adjective pitkä in the nominative case instead of the partitive case like metriä?
Even though pitkä comes right after the partitive word metriä, it doesn't describe the meters. It describes the subject of the sentence, Tämä kangas (This fabric), which is in the basic nominative case. The structure for these measurements is always [Amount] + [Unit in partitive] + [Adjective in nominative].
Why is the word for "meters" (metriä) in the partitive singular instead of a plural form?
In Finnish, any number greater than one (like kaksi) is followed by a noun in the partitive singular. This is an earlier rule you have learned, and it applies perfectly to measurement units: yksi metri (one meter) becomes kaksi metriä (two meters).
Can I put the adjective before the measurement, like saying on pitkä kaksi metriä?
No, the word order in Finnish here perfectly matches the English phrase "two meters long". You must put the measurement (kaksi metriä) directly before the dimension adjective (pitkä).
How would this sentence change if I wanted to use the noun for length, saying "The length of this fabric is two meters"?
You would use the noun form for length, which is pituus. The fabric would then go into the genitive (possessive) case to show ownership: Tämän kankaan pituus on kaksi metriä. Both ways of stating measurements are very common in Finnish.
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