Word
Rakennus romahti maanjäristyksen vuoksi.
Meaning
The building collapsed because of the earthquake.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Rakennus romahti maanjäristyksen vuoksi.
rakennus
the building
vuoksi
because of, for the sake of
romahtaa
to collapse
maanjäristys
the earthquake
Questions & Answers about Rakennus romahti maanjäristyksen vuoksi.
Why use vuoksi here instead of another causal postposition like ansiosta?
vuoksi is a neutral way to say because of. You would avoid ansiosta here because it translates to thanks to and implies a positive outcome, which does not fit a collapsing building. You could, however, use johdosta (due to) as a slightly more formal alternative.
Why does maanjäristys take the -en ending here?
The postpositions of cause and result (vuoksi, johdosta, and ansiosta) all require the preceding noun to be in the genitive case. Therefore, the nominative maanjäristys takes the -en ending to become maanjäristyksen.
Could I use kaatui instead of romahti for the building falling?
Not naturally. romahtaa specifically means to collapse or cave in, which is what buildings do when their internal structure fails. kaatua means to tip or fall over from an upright position (like a tree, a person, or a glass), which does not describe an earthquake destroying a building.
I recognize maa (earth) in maanjäristys. Where does the rest of the word come from?
The second part is järistys, a noun meaning a tremor or quake. It derives from the verb järistä (to tremble or quake). Notice that maa is put into the genitive case (maan) before attaching the second word, literally forming earth's tremor.