Breakdown of Laita kypärä päähän, ennen kuin ajat kilpa-autoa!
ajaa
to drive
pää
head
ennen
before
laittaa
to put
kuin
than / before (in 'ennen kuin') / like / as
kilpa-auto
race car
kypärä
helmet
Questions & Answers about Laita kypärä päähän, ennen kuin ajat kilpa-autoa!
Why do we say päähän (into the head) instead of using a word for 'on', and why isn't there a possessive suffix like päähäsi?
When putting on clothes or accessories, Finnish uses directional cases because the item is moving to its destination. So you put a helmet 'into' the head (päähän). Also, unlike English, Finnish usually leaves out possessive suffixes with body parts when the owner is obvious from the sentence (like this 'you' command).
Why is kypärä in its basic dictionary form here, rather than the accusative kypärän?
In Finnish, the object of a command (imperative sentence) does not take the typical -n ending of a total object. Because laita is an order, the object kypärä stays in the nominative form.
Could I just say ennen ajat instead of ennen kuin ajat?
No, you need the full phrase ennen kuin when connecting two clauses that both have verbs. You only use ennen by itself when it is followed by a noun in the partitive case, such as ennen kisaa (before the race).
Why does kilpa-auto end in -a here?
It is in the partitive case because ajaa (to drive) is a partitive verb when you are talking about driving a vehicle. The action of driving is viewed as an ongoing process rather than a completed whole.
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