Breakdown of Suutari pystyy kiillottamaan saappaat ja vaihtamaan kengännauhan.
ja
and
vaihtaa
to exchange / to change (switch)
pystyä
to be able to, to manage
saapas
boot
suutari
cobbler
kiillottaa
to polish
kengännauha
the shoelace
Questions & Answers about Suutari pystyy kiillottamaan saappaat ja vaihtamaan kengännauhan.
How would we rewrite this to use the lesson's -tavaksi structure, expressing that the boots were left to be polished and the shoelace to be changed?
You could say Saappaat jätettiin kiillotettaviksi ja kengännauha vaihdettavaksi. This translative passive participle structure expresses intent or purpose. Notice how it must agree in number: kiillotettaviksi is plural to match saappaat, while vaihdettavaksi is singular to match kengännauha.
Why do we use the -maan form (kiillottamaan, vaihtamaan) here instead of the basic infinitive?
The verb pystyä (to be able to) dictates that the following verb must be in the third infinitive illative form, ending in -maan or -mään. This is a strict rection. If you swapped pystyä for voida (can), you would use the basic infinitive instead: Suutari voi kiillottaa ja vaihtaa.
Both saappaat and kengännauhan are total objects of the cobbler's action. Why are they in different cases?
They are marked differently because of their number. Plural total objects take the nominative plural form, which is why saappaat ends in a -t. Singular total objects in standard affirmative sentences take the genitive singular form, which is why kengännauhan ends in an -n.
What happens with consonant gradation in the compound word kengännauhan?
The word is made of kenkä (shoe) and nauha (lace). In the first part, the -nk- changes to -ng- because it is in the closed genitive form (kengän). The second part (nauhan) has no consonant gradation, but it takes the -n accusative ending because it is the singular object of the sentence.
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