Breakdown of Tämä on yksi tärkeimmistä ainesosista.
tämä
this
olla
to be
yksi
one
tärkeä
important
ainesosa
the ingredient
Questions & Answers about Tämä on yksi tärkeimmistä ainesosista.
Why do we use the elative endings (-stä and -sta) here instead of the partitive for "of the"?
In English we say "one OF the ingredients", which often makes learners want to use the partitive case. However, in Finnish, when expressing "one out of a specific group", you must use the elative case (-sta/-stä), which literally means "out of". Both the superlative adjective (tärkeimmistä) and the noun (ainesosista) must take this plural elative ending to match.
How is the superlative word tärkeimmistä formed from the basic adjective tärkeä (important)?
The superlative "most important" in its basic "dictionary" form is tärkein. To add plural and case endings, you use its plural stem tärkeimpi-. Because the elative ending -stä closes the final syllable, the -mp- undergoes consonant gradation and weakens to -mm-. You then add -stä to get tärkeimmistä.
Why does tärkeimmistä have the -stä ending while ainesosista has the -sta ending?
This is due to vowel harmony. Tärkeimmistä is based on the root word tärkeä, which has front vowels (ä, e), so it takes the front vowel ending -stä. Ainesosista is a compound word. In compound words, vowel harmony is dictated by the final word in the compound. Since osa has back vowels (o, a), the whole word takes the back vowel ending -sta.
What are the parts of the compound word ainesosista?
It comes from aines (material, substance) and osa (part). Together, ainesosa means "ingredient". When inflecting compound words, only the final part changes, which is why osa becomes the plural elative osista while aines stays exactly the same.
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