Breakdown of Kartan mittakaavan mukaan välimatka on lyhyt, mutta kohde on tuhannen metrin päässä.
olla
to be
mutta
but
tuhat
one thousand
kartta
map
lyhyt
short
mukaan
according to
kohde
target
metri
the meter
päässä
at a distance of
mittakaava
the scale
välimatka
the distance (between two places)
Questions & Answers about Kartan mittakaavan mukaan välimatka on lyhyt, mutta kohde on tuhannen metrin päässä.
Why are both the number and the unit in the genitive case in tuhannen metrin päässä?
The postposition päässä (at a distance of) requires the measurement before it to be in the genitive case. In Finnish, numerals (except yksi) and their accompanying nouns must agree in case. So, both the number tuhat and the noun metri take the genitive ending -n, becoming tuhannen metrin.
Since this lesson covers both päässä and päästä, why is päässä the correct choice in this sentence?
We use päässä because the target's location is static; it is a thousand meters away right now (kohde on...). If the sentence involved an action happening from that distance (for example, observing or shooting from a thousand meters away), you would use the elative form päästä.
In Kartan mittakaavan mukaan, why are there two genitive words in a row before the postposition?
The postposition mukaan (according to) requires the word immediately preceding it to be in the genitive case, which gives us mittakaavan mukaan (according to the scale). The first word, kartan (of the map), is a standard possessive genitive modifying mittakaava. Finnish often chains genitives like this to build compound descriptive phrases.
Could I just use the word matka instead of välimatka here?
You could, but välimatka is much more precise. While matka generally translates to a journey, trip, or generic distance, välimatka specifically highlights the physical interval between two distinct points (literally the 'between-distance'). This fits perfectly when talking about measuring space between coordinates on a map.
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