Breakdown of Meidän on määrä ylittää uusi aikavyöhyke ensi yönä.
olla
to be
me
we
uusi
new
yö
night
ylittää
to cross / to exceed
määrä
amount
ensi
next (with time)
aikavyöhyke
the time zone
Questions & Answers about Meidän on määrä ylittää uusi aikavyöhyke ensi yönä.
Why doesn't the word ensi take an essive case ending to match yönä?
The word ensi (next) is a special time modifier that is indeclinable, meaning it never changes its form to match the noun it modifies. So while the noun yö takes the essive ending -nä to indicate when something happens, ensi stays exactly the same.
Why is "tomorrow night" translated using ensi instead of a word related to huomenna (tomorrow)?
In Finnish, the concept of "tomorrow night" is naturally expressed as "the next night." You simply use the modifier ensi paired with the target time period to refer to its very next occurrence.
Why is the subject "we" in the genitive case (meidän) instead of the basic nominative (me)?
The phrase olla määrä (to be scheduled to / to be meant to) is a necessive structure. Just like with the obligation verbs täytyy or pitää (must), the person who is supposed to perform the action must be placed in the genitive case.
Normally a total object takes the genitive-accusative case, so why is uusi aikavyöhyke in the basic nominative case?
This happens because of the meidän on määrä structure. Whenever you use a necessive construction where the subject is in the genitive case, the total object of the main verb is always put into the nominative case. That is why it is uusi aikavyöhyke instead of uuden aikavyöhykkeen.
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