Breakdown of Jos säästän rahaa, minulla on varaa varata ulkomaanmatka ja uusi kielikurssi.
olla
to be
minä
I
ja
and
uusi
new
raha
money
varata
to book
jos
if
säästää
to save (money, resources)
vara
means / funds
kielikurssi
language course
ulkomaanmatka
trip abroad
Questions & Answers about Jos säästän rahaa, minulla on varaa varata ulkomaanmatka ja uusi kielikurssi.
Why do we use the partitive varaa in the phrase minulla on varaa?
This is a fixed possessive structure used to express having the resources (like time or money) to do something. The formula is: adessive subject (minulla) + on + partitive resource noun (varaa) + 1st infinitive (varata). The noun vara (means/fund) is almost always in the partitive when you say you can afford something.
Why are the objects ulkomaanmatka and uusi kielikurssi in their basic nominative forms instead of the genitive (ulkomaanmatkan)?
This is due to a crucial Finnish object rule. The main clause (minulla on varaa...) is a possessive sentence, meaning it lacks a grammatical subject in the nominative case (the "doer" is minulla in the adessive). In sentences without a nominative subject, a total object takes the nominative form instead of the genitive-like accusative.
The words varaa and varata sit right next to each other and look almost identical. What is going on here?
They share the same root but serve completely different grammatical roles here! Varaa is the partitive form of the noun vara (reserve/fund), meaning "financial means" in this context. Varata is the 1st infinitive of the verb meaning "to book" or "to reserve". So varaa varata literally translates to "the means to reserve".
In the first clause, why is the object rahaa in the partitive, while the later objects are in the nominative?
In säästän rahaa, money is an uncountable, indefinite mass noun, and saving it is an ongoing action, so it requires a partitive object. By contrast, ulkomaanmatka and uusi kielikurssi are whole, countable things you intend to successfully book, so they are treated as total objects.
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