Breakdown of Hän suuntautuu politiikkaan, koska hänellä on suuri päämäärä.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
koska
because
suuri
large, great
politiikka
politics
suuntautua
to orient oneself towards
päämäärä
goal / destination (end point, ultimate aim)
Questions & Answers about Hän suuntautuu politiikkaan, koska hänellä on suuri päämäärä.
Why is politiikka in the illative case (politiikkaan) here?
The verb suuntautua (to orient oneself towards) is a goal-oriented verb. Like pyrkiä (to strive) or päätyä (to end up), it describes directing yourself toward an abstract destination or outcome, which requires the illative case in Finnish.
How is the verb suuntautua built?
It is built from the noun suunta (direction). The ending -utua turns it into a reflexive verb meaning to direct oneself or to become oriented. So suuntautuu politiikkaan literally means he points himself in the direction of politics.
What makes up the compound word päämäärä?
It combines pää (head, or in this context, end) and määrä (amount, or here, destination). Together they form the concept of an ultimate end-point or objective you are working towards.
As a refresher, why is suuri päämäärä in the nominative case rather than the partitive?
In possession structures like hänellä on (he has), the thing being owned is placed in the nominative case if it is a singular, countable noun and you have the whole thing. If the word were an uncountable concept, you would use the partitive case instead.
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