Questions & Answers about Hameen helma on polven päällä.
Why is the postposition päällä used here to mean "above"?
Literally, päällä means "on top of". When talking about clothing length, saying a hem is "on top of the knee" (polven päällä) often translates to "above the knee" or "resting on the knee" in English. If you meant the hem was strictly higher up and not touching the knee, you would use the postposition yläpuolella instead.
Why are both hame and polvi in the genitive case?
Hameen is in the genitive to show possession, meaning "the skirt's hem". Polven is in the genitive because it is required by the postposition päällä. Most Finnish postpositions require the word right before them to take the genitive -n ending.
How does the word hame (skirt) change into hameen?
Hame belongs to a specific group of Finnish words ending in -e. When you add a grammatical ending to these words, the final -e doubles. Adding the genitive -n gives us hameen.
Why does the -i in polvi (knee) change to an -e in polven?
Polvi is an old Finnish word ending in -i. For many of these older words about nature or the human body, the final -i changes to an -e before adding endings. This creates the stem polve-, which turns into polven when we add the genitive -n.
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