Breakdown of Miksi toinen paalu on vain metrin päässä ensimmäisestä?
olla
to be
miksi
why
vain
only
toinen
other, another; second
Questions & Answers about Miksi toinen paalu on vain metrin päässä ensimmäisestä?
Why is metri in the genitive case (metrin) in this sentence?
To express spatial distance, Finnish uses a measurement in the genitive case followed by päässä for a static location. You can think of it literally as saying the stake is at a single "meter's" distance.
Why does ensimmäisestä take the elative (-stä) case?
The postposition päässä requires the reference point you are measuring from to be in the elative case. Even though the stake's position is static (which is why we use päässä instead of päästä), you are still measuring the distance "out of" or "away from" the first stake, making ensimmäinen become ensimmäisestä.
Is the postposition päässä related to the body part pää (head)?
Yes! The word pää also means "end". Päässä is literally the inessive case form (meaning "in" or "at") of pää. Therefore, metrin päässä translates literally to "at the end of a meter".
How do we know toinen means "second" here rather than "the other"?
The word toinen can mean either "second" or "other" depending on the context. Here, it is paired with ensimmäisestä (from the first), which makes it clear that we are counting the stakes in order.