Breakdown of Monet opiskelijat päätyvät määräaikaiseen työhön.
opiskelija
student
työ
work
moni
many (a)
päätyä
to end up in
määräaikainen
fixed-term
Questions & Answers about Monet opiskelijat päätyvät määräaikaiseen työhön.
Why is it työhön (into a job) and not työssä (in a job)?
The verb päätyä (to end up) is a resolution verb in Finnish. Even though English says "end up in", Finnish views this as a process of arriving at a final destination or result. Because it implies movement toward that goal, it requires the illative case (-hVn or -Vn), making it työhön.
Why does the adjective määräaikainen take the form määräaikaiseen here?
Adjectives must match the case of the noun they describe. Because työ is in the illative case (työhön), its modifier must be too. For words ending in -nen, the stem changes to -see- before adding the illative -n, resulting in määräaikaiseen.
Could I say Monta opiskelijaa instead of Monet opiskelijat?
Yes, but the verb would have to change. Monet opiskelijat is in the nominative plural and takes a plural verb (päätyvät). If you use Monta opiskelijaa (partitive), it grammatically acts as a singular unit and requires a singular verb: Monta opiskelijaa päätyy.
What are the parts of the compound word määräaikainen?
It combines määrä (amount, set limit) and aika (time). The -inen suffix turns it into an adjective. Together, it literally means "fixed-time" or "fixed-term", which is the standard term in Finnish for a temporary employment contract.
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