Breakdown of Partio sopii teille molemmille.
te
you (plural/formal)
sopia
to suit
molemmat
both (of them)
partio
the patrol
Questions & Answers about Partio sopii teille molemmille.
Why do both teille and molemmille have the -lle ending here?
This is a compound pronoun phrase meaning 'to both of you'. In Finnish, when a personal pronoun (te, you) is paired with a quantifier like molemmat (both) or kaikki (all), both words must inflect in the same case. Since the sentence requires the allative case, both become allative: teille molemmille. In English we say 'both of you', but Finnish essentially says 'to you to both'.
Why is the allative case (-lle) required in this sentence in the first place?
The verb sopia (to suit, to fit) dictates the case of the person or thing it suits. It requires the allative case (-lle). So, 'suits you' is always sopii teille (literally 'suits for you').
Could I reverse the order and say molemmille teille?
Not naturally. When combining a personal pronoun with molemmat or kaikki, the personal pronoun almost always comes first. It is teille molemmille (to you both) just like it would be meidän kaikkien (of us all). Putting the pronoun second sounds clumsy in Finnish.
The translation says 'The patrol', but doesn't partio usually mean something else in everyday Finnish?