Breakdown of Näkemiin ja hyvää päivänjatkoa!
ja
and
näkemiin
goodbye
päivänjatko
rest of the day (hyvää päivänjatkoa! = have a nice day!)
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Questions & Answers about Näkemiin ja hyvää päivänjatkoa!
Why does hyvää end in an extra -ä here instead of just being hyvä?
It is in the partitive case! In Finnish, when you wish someone a good day, morning, or night (like hyvää huomenta), you use the partitive case because you are wishing them an unspecified amount of 'goodness' rather than a single, complete object.
How does the word päivänjatkoa break down?
It is a compound word made of two parts. Päivän means 'of the day' and jatkoa comes from jatko, meaning 'continuation'. So literally, you are wishing someone a good continuation of the day.
Why is the first part written as päivän with an -n at the end, rather than just päivä?
The -n ending is the genitive case, which shows possession or connection (similar to the English word 'of' or an apostrophe-s). So päivän translates to 'the day's' or 'of the day'.
Is näkemiin a formal or informal way to say goodbye?
Näkemiin is a standard, slightly polite way to say goodbye, often used with shop cashiers, in customer service, or with people you do not know well. With friends, you would usually just use a casual greeting like hei hei, moi moi, or nähdään.