Breakdown of Saksa on hänen äidinkielensä.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
äidinkieli
mother tongue
saksa
German (the language)
Questions & Answers about Saksa on hänen äidinkielensä.
Why is Saksa in the nominative here instead of the translative saksaksi, since this lesson is about languages?
The translative ending -ksi is used when a language is the medium of communication (like speaking or writing in German). In this sentence, German is simply the subject of the sentence, so it stays in the basic nominative case Saksa.
Why do we use both hänen and the suffix -nsä on äidinkielensä? Isn't that saying 'his' twice?
In standard written Finnish, you need both! For the third person (he/she/they), standard grammar requires the genitive pronoun (hänen) to be paired with the matching possessive suffix (-nsä or -nsa). In casual spoken Finnish, people often drop the suffix and just say hänen äidinkieli, but standard Finnish strictly requires both.
Can Saksa mean both the country Germany and the language German?
Yes! Saksa means both Germany (the country) and German (the language). When referring to the language, you will also frequently see it written out as the phrase saksan kieli (the language of German), but using just Saksa is very common and correct in this context.
Would anything in this sentence change if we were talking about 'her' mother tongue instead of 'his'?
No, the sentence would be identical. Finnish pronouns do not have gender, so hän covers both 'he' and 'she'. Therefore, hänen äidinkielensä can translate to 'his mother tongue' or 'her mother tongue' depending entirely on the context.
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