Breakdown of Poikien on määrä viedä heinät latoon.
olla
to be
poika
boy
viedä
to take (away, somewhere) / to take (time), require
määrä
amount
Questions & Answers about Poikien on määrä viedä heinät latoon.
Why is poikien in the genitive case instead of the nominative pojat?
This is required by the on määrä (is meant to / is scheduled to) structure. Just like with necessity verbs (such as täytyy), the logical subject of the sentence who is performing the action must take the genitive case. So, the nominative pojat becomes poikien.
How does on määrä differ from on tarkoitus, and can they be swapped in this sentence?
You can absolutely swap them here, and the grammar remains exactly the same (Poikien on tarkoitus...). The difference is just a slight nuance: on määrä implies an external schedule or expectation (they are scheduled or supposed to take the hay), whereas on tarkoitus leans slightly more toward intention (their intention is to take the hay).
Why is the word for hay in the plural form (heinät)?
While English treats hay as an uncountable singular noun, Finnish frequently uses the plural heinät when talking about a specific crop, yield, or physical batch of hay being gathered or moved.
What case is the object heinät in?