Word
Ruoka on syömäkelpoista niin kauan kuin päiväys ei ole ohi.
Meaning
The food is edible as long as the date is not past.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ruoka on syömäkelpoista niin kauan kuin päiväys ei ole ohi.
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
ruoka
food
ohi
past, over (by)
Questions & Answers about Ruoka on syömäkelpoista niin kauan kuin päiväys ei ole ohi.
How does niin kauan kuin work in this sentence?
It translates literally to "so long as". Just like in English, it acts as a temporal conjunction to show that the first part of the sentence (the food being edible) remains true only for the duration of the second part (the date not being past).
Why is syömäkelpoista in the partitive case here?
In this sentence, ruoka (food) is treated as an uncountable mass noun. When you use an adjective to describe an uncountable subject in an "A is B" sentence, the describing adjective must be in the partitive case.
How is the word syömäkelpoinen built?
It is a compound word. The first part syömä comes from the verb syödä (to eat), and kelpoinen means "fit for", "valid", or "capable". Together they mean "fit for eating". You will see -kelpoinen used to form many similar adjectives, such as käyttökelpoinen (usable).