Questions & Answers about Sohvat laitetaan salissa seläkkäin.
How is the word seläkkäin formed from the word for 'back' (selkä)?
The suffix -kkain/-kkäin means 'mutually' or 'in relation to each other'. To attach it to selkä (back), the word goes through consonant gradation: the strong lk changes to a weak l, changing the stem to selä-. Because of vowel harmony (the front vowels e and ä), we use the -kkäin version of the suffix. So, selkä + -kkäin becomes seläkkäin (back to back).
Since the sofas are the object being placed, why is sohvat in the basic plural form instead of the partitive?
In a passive sentence like this one (laitetaan), a plural object takes the nominative plural form (the basic form ending in -t), rather than the partitive plural. The whole group of sofas is being placed, so it acts as a total object.
Does sali mean 'hall' as in a hallway or corridor?
No, sali usually refers to a large, open room, like a hall in a manor, a gym (kuntosali), or a dining hall. If you mean a narrow hallway or corridor in a regular house, you would use käytävä or eteinen (entryway).
laitetaan is the passive form. Could this sentence also mean 'We place the sofas...'?
Yes! In spoken Finnish, the passive form is exactly what is used for the first-person plural ('we'). So depending on the context, this sentence can mean either 'The sofas are placed...' (standard written passive) or 'We place the sofas...' (everyday spoken Finnish).
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