Questions & Answers about Meressä on monia eläimiä, kuten valaita ja meduusoja.
Why are valaita and meduusoja in the partitive plural case here?
They are introduced by kuten (such as). When kuten is used to give examples of a category, the examples must match the grammatical case of that category. Since the main category eläimiä (animals) is in the partitive plural, valaita and meduusoja must also be in the partitive plural.
Since there are multiple animals, why is the verb singular on instead of plural ovat?
This is a classic existential sentence (Location + on + Subject) which expresses that something exists somewhere. In Finnish, when you state that things exist in a certain place, the verb is always locked in the third-person singular on, even if the subject that follows it (monia eläimiä) is plural.
How do we get the partitive plural form valaita from the base word for whale?
The base form is valas. For words ending in -as, the stem is formed by replacing the -s with a long vowel, giving us the stem valaa-. To make the partitive plural, we add the plural marker -i- and the partitive ending -ta, resulting in valaita.
Could I use esimerkiksi or niin kuin instead of kuten here?