Breakdown of Toinen jäi työttömäksi ja toinen jäi kodittomaksi.
ja
and
jäädä
to stay
toinen
other, another; second
työtön
unemployed
koditon
homeless
Questions & Answers about Toinen jäi työttömäksi ja toinen jäi kodittomaksi.
Why is jäi translated as 'became' here instead of its usual meaning of 'stayed' or 'remained'?
When jäädä is paired with an adjective or noun in the translative case (ending in -ksi), it indicates a transition into a state. While it literally implies being left in a certain condition, in English we usually translate this naturally as 'became' or 'ended up'.
Why do työttömäksi and kodittomaksi take the translative case marker -ksi?
This is driven by the verb rection of jäädä. When describing a resulting state or condition that someone is left in, jäädä requires the translative case to emphasize the transition into that new state.
How do the stems of työtön and koditon change before adding the -ksi ending?
Both words use the suffix -ton or -tön (meaning 'without', like the English suffix '-less'). When inflecting these words, this suffix changes to -ttoma- or -ttömä- before adding endings like the translative -ksi. Thus, työtön becomes työttömäksi and koditon becomes kodittomaksi.
How does the structure toinen... ja toinen... work in this sentence?
In Finnish, repeating the pronoun toinen in two connected clauses is the standard way to express 'one... and the other...' when talking about two distinct individuals or things.
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