Breakdown of Kaksilla etkoilla ja yksissä polttareissa oli valtava tarjoilupöytä.
olla
to be
ja
and
yksi
one
kaksi
two
Questions & Answers about Kaksilla etkoilla ja yksissä polttareissa oli valtava tarjoilupöytä.
Why are we using plural forms for the numbers one and two (yksissä, kaksilla)?
Because the words for these parties, etkot (pre-party) and polttarit (bachelor party), are pluralia tantum words, meaning they only normally exist in the plural form. To count them, you must use the plural stem of the numeral and match the noun's case.
Why do we use the adessive case for etkoilla but the inessive case for polttareissa?
In Finnish, different events conventionally take different local cases. Etkot takes the outer locative cases (adessive, ending in -lla/llä), while polttarit usually takes the inner locative cases (inessive, ending in -ssa/ssä).
If there are three parties mentioned at the start of the sentence, why is the verb singular (oli)?
This is an existential sentence structure stating that something exists in a location. In sentences starting with a location (like etkoilla and polttareissa), the verb is always in the third-person singular (oli), even if there are multiple locations or if the thing existing is plural.
What kind of word is etkot and is there an equivalent word for an after-party?