Questions & Answers about Mennään kysymään rahoituksesta!
How would we change this sentence to fit the current lesson's grammar: "Let's probably not go ask about the funding"?
You would use the negative passive potential: ei mentäne kysymään rahoituksesta. Since the "let's" suggestion form (mennään) is grammatically the passive present affirmative, its potential negative counterpart uses the third-person negative verb ei plus the passive potential participle mentäne.
Why is the verb to ask in the form kysymään instead of the basic dictionary form kysyä?
After verbs of motion like mennä (to go), Finnish requires the third infinitive (the -ma/-mä form) in the illative case, which ends in a lengthened vowel + -n. So, "to go ask" becomes mennä kysymään (literally "to go into asking").
Why is the word for funding (rahoitus) in the elative case (rahoituksesta)?
The verb kysyä (to ask) requires the topic you are asking about to be in the elative case (-sta/-stä). While in English you ask "about" something, in Finnish you ask "out of" it.
What is the rule for the stem change from rahoitus to rahoitukse-?
Nouns ending in -us or -ys (where a short vowel precedes the -s) generally change their final -s to -kse- when case endings are added. Thus, the nominative rahoitus gives the stem rahoitukse-, to which the elative ending -sta is attached.
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