Breakdown of Keskimmäinen vieras, jonka lasi on tyhjä, haluaa lisää viiniä.
olla
to be
lasi
glass
viini
wine
lisää
more
Questions & Answers about Keskimmäinen vieras, jonka lasi on tyhjä, haluaa lisää viiniä.
How is the word keskimmäinen formed, and what does the suffix do here?
Keskimmäinen comes from the root keski (middle) combined with the suffix -immäinen. This suffix creates adjectives that describe an extreme position or specific location. Here, it specifies the guest who is positioned exactly in the middle of the group (the middlemost).
Could I just use the word keski instead of keskimmäinen to describe the guest?
No, because keski- is primarily used as a prefix in compound words, such as keskisormi (middle finger) or keski-ikä (middle age). When you need an independent adjective to describe a noun's position compared to others, you must use the derived form keskimmäinen.
Why is jonka used here instead of minkä for the word 'whose'?
Jonka is the genitive (possessive) form of the relative pronoun joka. You use joka and its forms when referring back to a specific person or thing in the previous clause, which here is vieras (guest). You would use mikä or minkä when referring back to an entire sentence, an abstract concept, or a superlative.
Why is the word for wine in the partitive case (viiniä)?