Questions & Answers about Juhannuksena me olemme järvellä.
Why is juhannus in the essive case (juhannuksena) here?
While the essive case (ending in -na or -nä) often indicates a role, such as 'as a teacher', it is also the standard case used for days of the week, festivals, and holidays to mean 'on' or 'during' that time. So juhannuksena simply means 'at Midsummer'.
What is the stem change happening in juhannuksena?
Finnish words ending in -us (like juhannus) usually change that ending to -kse- when adding most grammatical cases. The stem becomes juhannukse-, and then the essive ending -na is attached.
Why do we use the adessive case järvellä instead of the inessive järvessä?
The adessive ending -lla or -llä means 'at' or 'on'. Using järvellä means you are spending time at the lake, such as at a summer cabin or on a boat. If you said järvessä, that translates to 'inside the lake', which would mean you are actively swimming in the water!
Could I drop the pronoun me from this sentence?
Yes! Because the verb olemme already contains the personal ending -mme, the subject 'we' is perfectly clear. You can simply say Juhannuksena olemme järvellä. Including me just adds a little bit of emphasis to the subject.