Breakdown of Perustuuko maahanmuutto siihen, että ihmiset haluavat opiskella?
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ihminen
human
opiskella
to study
haluta
to want
että
that (conjunction)
perustua
to be based on
maahanmuutto
immigration
Questions & Answers about Perustuuko maahanmuutto siihen, että ihmiset haluavat opiskella?
Why do we need the word siihen right before että?
The verb perustua (to be based on) requires its target to be in the illative case (the into-form). Because an että clause (that people want to study) cannot take case endings, Finnish uses the pronoun se as a bridge. We put se into the illative case (siihen) to satisfy the verb's rule, followed by the että clause.
Why does perustua trigger the illative case (siihen) instead of something like the adessive (sillä)?
Verb rections in Finnish don't always match English prepositions. While in English something is based on a thing, in Finnish it is based into a thing. Therefore, perustua always requires the illative case.
How is the word maahanmuutto (immigration) formed?
It is a compound word made of maahan (into the country, the illative form of maa) and muutto (moving or migration). Literally, it means moving into the country.
Could we attach the question particle -ko to the subject instead, like maahanmuuttoko perustuu...?
Yes, but it changes the focus. Attaching -ko to the verb (perustuuko) asks a neutral yes/no question about the action. Attaching it to the subject (maahanmuuttoko) emphasizes the subject, asking 'Is it immigration that is based on...'. Remember that the word with the -ko particle must always jump to the front of the sentence.
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