Breakdown of Kolmannes potilaista on jo parantunut.
olla
to be
jo
already
parantua
to get better, to heal (recover)
potilas
the patient
Questions & Answers about Kolmannes potilaista on jo parantunut.
How does the suffix in kolmannes work to create a fraction?
The suffix -nes is used to create formal fraction nouns. You attach it to the stem of an ordinal number. The ordinal kolmas (third) has the stem kolman-, so adding -nes gives kolmannes ('a third').
Why is potilaista in the elative plural case?
The elative case (-sta/-stä) is used here to indicate a portion of a group. Whenever you use a fraction noun like kolmannes, the group being divided is put in the elative. So, potilaista translates as 'out of the patients'.
Why is the verb on in the singular when the sentence refers to multiple patients?
The grammatical subject of the sentence is the fraction kolmannes ('a third'), not the patients. Since kolmannes is a singular noun, the verb must agree with it and takes the third-person singular form on.
Why is the verb parantua used here instead of parantaa?
These two verbs are a classic transitive/intransitive pair. Parantua is an intransitive verb meaning 'to recover' or 'to heal oneself', which fits here because the patients are getting better. Parantaa is transitive and means 'to cure' or 'to heal someone else'.
Why does the participle parantunut not have a plural marker?