Breakdown of Äiti oli ankara, mutta isä oli lempeä lapsille.
olla
to be
mutta
but
lapsi
child
äiti
mother
isä
father
ankara
strict (severe, harsh)
lempeä
gentle
Questions & Answers about Äiti oli ankara, mutta isä oli lempeä lapsille.
Why is lapsille in the allative case here?
Adjectives that describe an attitude or behavior towards someone, such as lempeä (gentle) and ankara (strict), require the target to be in the allative case (-lle). This is a specific adjective rection that is very common when talking about interpersonal interactions.
Does lapsille apply to both the mother being strict and the father being gentle?
Yes, it applies to both halves of the sentence. Because ankara and lempeä both require the exact same case (the allative), Finnish naturally lets you state lapsille just once at the very end to cover both adjectives.
Could I use the postposition kohtaan (towards) instead of the allative case?
Absolutely. You could say isä oli lempeä lapsia kohtaan. Using kohtaan with the partitive case is extremely common and means exactly the same thing. However, using the allative directly is a concise, natural alternative that B2 learners should start using for these specific adjectives.
I often mix up the plural forms of lapsi. How exactly is lapsille formed?
The word lapsi has the singular stem lapse-. To form the plural, the plural marker -i- replaces the -e-, creating the plural stem lapsi-. Then you simply attach the allative ending -lle to get lapsille.
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