Breakdown of Aloittelijoina me työskentelimme yhdessä työkavereina.
me
we
yhdessä
together
työskennellä
to work
aloittelija
beginner
työkaveri
coworker
Questions & Answers about Aloittelijoina me työskentelimme yhdessä työkavereina.
Why are both aloittelijoina and työkavereina in the essive case?
The essive case (ending in -na or -nä) is used to express a role, temporary state, or position. Because the sentence describes the roles the speakers occupied at a specific time, the essive is used to mean "as beginners" and "as colleagues".
How do we get the plural stem aloittelijoi- from the singular aloittelija?
For multi-syllable nouns ending in -ija or -ijä, the final -a or -ä changes to -oi- or -öi- before plural endings. Adding the essive ending -na to this plural stem gives us aloittelijoina.
Why does the stem of työkaveri change to työkaverei- in the plural?
Since this lesson focuses on the strong consonant grade, do the essive nouns in this sentence undergo consonant gradation?
No, neither aloittelija nor työkaveri contain consonants that undergo gradation (like k, p, or t). However, you can see a strong consonant grade in the verb työskentelimme. Its dictionary form työskennellä (a type 3 verb) has the weak -nn-, which strengthens to -nt- when conjugated.
Why is yhdessä used here, and does it need to be pluralized to match me?
Yhdessä is a fixed adverb meaning "together." Even though it is literally the inessive case of the number one (yksi, meaning "in one"), it is an established phrase and never changes form to match a plural subject.
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