Breakdown of Tarkistamme sopivuuden kahdentenatoista tammikuuta.
tammikuu
January
tarkistaa
to check
kahdestoista
twelfth
sopivuus
suitability
Questions & Answers about Tarkistamme sopivuuden kahdentenatoista tammikuuta.
The lesson is about the verb sopia. How is the word sopivuuden related to it?
Sopivuus is a noun derived from the verb sopia (to suit or fit) using the suffix -vuus, which expresses a quality or state, much like '-ity' or '-ness' in English. It is in the genitive-accusative case here, sopivuuden, because it is the total direct object of the verb tarkistamme.
Why doesn't sopivuuden take the allative case (-lle) if this lesson is about suitability?
The allative case (-lle) is used for the person or thing to whom something is suitable, like in the phrase se sopii minulle (it suits me). In this sentence, sopivuuden is simply the direct object being checked. If we wanted to specify who it is suitable for, we would add the allative alongside it, for example: tarkistamme sopivuuden minulle (we will check the suitability for me).
How exactly do we get the form kahdentenatoista from the word for 'twelfth'?
To express 'on a certain date', Finnish uses the essive case (-na / -nä). The basic word for 'twelfth' is kahdestoista. When inflecting teen numbers (11-19), only the first part changes while -toista stays frozen. The stem of kahdes (second) is kahdente-, so adding -na gives kahdentena. Reattaching the frozen -toista results in kahdentenatoista.
Why is tammikuuta in the partitive case?
In Finnish dates, the month is always in the partitive case. You can think of kahdentenatoista tammikuuta as literally meaning 'on the twelfth part of January', where the partitive shows that the specific day is just one portion of the entire month.
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