Breakdown of Miksi olet aina niin kärsimätön minulle?
olla
to be
minä
I
aina
always
miksi
why
niin
so
kärsimätön
impatient
Questions & Answers about Miksi olet aina niin kärsimätön minulle?
Why does the sentence use the allative case minulle instead of a word for 'with'?
In Finnish, adjectives expressing an attitude or behavior toward someone usually require the allative case (the -lle ending). While English uses 'impatient with', Finnish literally says 'impatient to'. You will see this same pattern with words like ystävällinen (friendly) or vihainen (angry).
How does the word kärsimätön (impatient) break down?
It comes from the verb kärsiä (to suffer, or in this context, to endure or tolerate). The suffix -mätön or -maton creates an adjective meaning 'without doing'. So, someone who is kärsimätön is literally 'without enduring' or 'intolerant' of waiting.
Could I say minua kohtaan instead of minulle here?
Yes, you can! With attitude adjectives like kärsimätön, you can often use the postposition kohtaan (toward) with the partitive case (minua kohtaan). Both minulle and minua kohtaan sound natural here, though the allative minulle is slightly more concise and very common in everyday speech.
If the subject were plural ('Why are you guys always so impatient'), how would kärsimätön change?
It would become kärsimättömiä. Adjectives ending in -ton or -tön change their stem to -ttoma- or -ttömä- before adding endings. Since a plural predicative adjective needs the partitive plural case, you add -iä, resulting in kärsimättömiä.
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