Breakdown of Kolmannes kansalaisista asuu tässä taajamassa.
tämä
this
asua
to live
kansalainen
the citizen
kolmannes
third (fraction)
taajama
urban area
Questions & Answers about Kolmannes kansalaisista asuu tässä taajamassa.
How is the formal fraction kolmannes formed here, and can I just use kolmasosa?
Both words mean "a third." Kolmasosa (third part) is the everyday compound word you likely learned earlier. Kolmannes is the more formal version using the -nes suffix. You form it by taking the inflectional stem of the ordinal number kolmas (third), which is kolman-, and adding -nes.
Why is the verb asuu in the singular when referring to many citizens?
The grammatical subject of this sentence is the fraction kolmannes, which is a singular noun. In Finnish, the verb always agrees with the grammatical subject, so it takes the third-person singular form asuu, even though it refers to a plural group of people.
Why does "of the citizens" translate into the elative case kansalaisista?
When expressing "out of a larger group," Finnish uses the elative case (-sta/-stä). After a fraction like kolmannes or a quantity word, the group being divided is put into the elative to show what the fraction is drawn from.
What kind of place is a taajama compared to a kaupunki (city)?
While kaupunki simply means city or town, taajama is a specific geographic and statistical term for a "built-up area" or "urban cluster." In Finland, it refers to any densely populated area with at least 200 inhabitants, regardless of whether it is officially part of a city or a rural municipality.
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