Breakdown of Mittakaavan mukaan uusi koordinaatti on viiden metrin päässä.
olla
to be
uusi
new
viisi
five
mukaan
according to
Questions & Answers about Mittakaavan mukaan uusi koordinaatti on viiden metrin päässä.
Why do we use päässä here instead of päästä?
We use päässä because the sentence describes a static location (on, meaning "is"). The postposition päässä indicates being at a specific distance. If the sentence involved an action starting from that distance, we would use the elative form päästä.
Why is "five meters" in the genitive case (viiden metrin)?
The word päässä acts as a postposition. In Finnish, the noun phrase that comes right before a postposition almost always takes the genitive case. Since it is a multi-word phrase of measurement, both the number (viiden) and the unit (metrin) must take the genitive ending -n.
How does mukaan work in the phrase mittakaavan mukaan?
The postposition mukaan translates to "according to" when it follows a noun in the genitive case. Here, the base noun is mittakaava (scale), so adding the genitive -n gives us mittakaavan mukaan (according to the scale).
What is the literal makeup of the word mittakaava?
It is a compound word made of mitta (measure) and kaava (formula, pattern, or plan). Together they create the standard term for a map's scale or a drawing's proportions.