Breakdown of Ota pipetillä vajaat kaksi millilitraa tätä vaarallista reagenssia.
tämä
this
kaksi
two
ottaa
to take
vaarallinen
dangerous
vajaa
short (in amount) / incomplete
millilitra
the millilitre
reagenssi
the reagent
pipetti
the pipette
Questions & Answers about Ota pipetillä vajaat kaksi millilitraa tätä vaarallista reagenssia.
Why is vajaat in the plural form while the number kaksi is in the singular?
This is a special, fixed syntax in Finnish. When expressing measurement approximations, the adjectives vajaa (just under) and reilu (just over) are usually put in the plural nominative form (vajaat, reilut) even though the numeral that follows remains in the singular.
Why is the numeral kaksi in its basic form rather than the partitive, given that we are taking an uncountable liquid?
The grammatical object of the verb ota (take) is the number kaksi. Because the verb is an imperative command, its total object takes the nominative-like accusative form. The uncountability of the liquid only dictates the case of the words following the number.
Why are both millilitraa and tätä vaarallista reagenssia in the partitive case?
They are in the partitive for two different syntactic reasons. Millilitraa is partitive singular because it directly follows a number greater than one (kaksi). The phrase tätä vaarallista reagenssia is partitive because it expresses what substance is being measured, functioning much like 'of this dangerous reagent' in English.
Which case is used for pipetillä to express 'with the pipette'?
It uses the adessive case (-lla / -llä). While learners first meet the adessive to mean 'on top of', it is also the standard case for expressing the instrument or tool used to perform an action.
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