Breakdown of Housut ovat liian tiukat, joten räätäli leventää vyötäröä.
olla
to be
tiukka
strict / tight
joten
so, therefore
liian
too (excessively)
housut
trousers, pants
räätäli
the tailor
leventää
to let out
vyötärö
the waist
Questions & Answers about Housut ovat liian tiukat, joten räätäli leventää vyötäröä.
How does the verb leventää relate to adjectives of dimension?
Leventää means to widen or let out. It is derived directly from the dimension adjective leveä (wide). In Finnish, you can often turn an adjective into a transitive verb meaning 'to make something [adjective]' by adding a suffix like -ntää or -ntaa.
Why is the adjective tiukat in the plural form?
Because the noun it describes, housut (trousers), is a plural word. In Finnish, adjectives must match the number and case of their noun, so the basic adjective tiukka (tight) takes the plural nominative ending -t.
Why does tiukka lose a k when it becomes tiukat?
This is due to consonant gradation. Adding the plural -t ending closes the final syllable of the word. This forces the strong double consonant kk in tiukka to weaken into a single k in tiukat.
Why is the object vyötäröä in the partitive case?
Using the partitive vyötäröä (waist) shows that the action is either currently ongoing or being done by an unspecified amount. If the sentence used the total object vyötärön, it would stress the completed result of the tailoring.
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