Breakdown of Meidän kannattaa liittoutua ja voittaa yhdessä.
ja
and
me
we
yhdessä
together
voittaa
to win
kannattaa
to be profitable / to be worth it
liittoutua
to ally oneself
Questions & Answers about Meidän kannattaa liittoutua ja voittaa yhdessä.
Why is the English word 'we' translated into the genitive case meidän rather than the nominative me?
This sentence uses the verb kannattaa (to be worthwhile or advisable) in a necessive structure. Just like with täytyy or pitää, the person who should do the action is put in the genitive case (meidän). The verb kannattaa stays in the third-person singular.
This lesson is about verbs of joining and adapting that take the illative case. Why is there no illative here, and how would we add a target?
The verb liittoutua (to ally oneself) is used here intransitively, without a target. If you wanted to say who you are allying with, you would usually use the postposition kanssa, as in liittoutua heidän kanssaan. However, its close cousin liittyä (to join) strongly requires the illative case, such as liittyä meihin (to join us).
How does the -utua suffix change the meaning of the word liittoutua?
The suffix -utua is used to form reflexive or automative verbs, meaning the subject does the action to themselves. Here, it turns the noun liitto (alliance) into the verb liittoutua (to ally oneself or to form an alliance).
Why are both liittoutua and voittaa in their basic dictionary form?
They are both governed by the necessive verb kannattaa. In this structure, the action being recommended is always expressed in the first infinitive. The conjunction ja links them, so kannattaa applies to both actions.
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