Learn Finnish: Ei edes harjoittelija tyydy huonoon palkkatasoon. - Not even an intern settles for a bad salary level.

The verb tyytyä (to settle for, to be content with) requires the illative case. In Finnish, verbs describing a goal, resolution, or adapting to a situation usually take the illative. Because of this rule, both the adjective huono and the noun palkkataso take the illative endings, becoming huonoon palkkatasoon.

The dictionary form of the verb is tyytyä. Why does it change to tyydy in this sentence?

This is the connegative form, which is required after the negative verb ei. To form it, you take the first-person singular tyydyn (I settle) and drop the personal ending -n. Because the syllable is closed in the first-person form, consonant gradation changes the strong t to a weak d.

What role does edes play here, and could I use jopa instead?

Edes is used to mean 'even' in negative sentences, so ei edes translates to 'not even'. You cannot use jopa here because jopa is strictly used for 'even' in affirmative sentences.

Why is the negative verb ei at the very beginning of the sentence instead of after the subject?

The phrase ei edes (not even) forms a fixed unit that directly modifies the subject harjoittelija. Placing ei edes at the front emphasizes that 'not even an intern' will accept the bad salary.