Breakdown of Ennen kuin vaihto-ohjelma alkoi, tutustuin uuteen isäntäperheeseen.
uusi
new
alkaa
to start
tutustua
to get to know
ennen kuin
before (conjunction)
vaihto-ohjelma
exchange program
isäntäperhe
host family
Questions & Answers about Ennen kuin vaihto-ohjelma alkoi, tutustuin uuteen isäntäperheeseen.
Why are uusi and isäntäperhe in the illative case (uuteen isäntäperheeseen)?
The verb tutustua (to get acquainted with) is one of the verbs of psychological attachment that require the illative case. Finnish grammatically treats getting to know someone or something as directing your attention into them. The adjective must agree with the noun it modifies, so both words take the illative ending.
How is the illative ending -eseen formed for isäntäperheeseen?
The base word is isäntäperhe (host family), which ends in -e. Nouns ending in -e have a vowel stem that lengthens that final vowel (making it -perhee-). Because the stem now ends in a long vowel, the illative ending becomes -seen rather than just a single vowel and an -n.
Why does the compound word vaihto-ohjelma have a hyphen?
In Finnish compound words, a hyphen is mandatory when the first part ends in the same vowel that the second part starts with. Because vaihto ends in -o and ohjelma starts with o-, the hyphen is needed to clarify the syllable boundary so it isn't read as a single long vowel.
Why is kuin needed in ennen kuin?
Ennen kuin is a fixed conjunction used when "before" introduces a full clause with a subject and a verb (here, vaihto-ohjelma alkoi). If you use ennen by itself, it acts as a preposition and must be followed by a noun in the partitive case instead (for example, ennen ohjelmaa).
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