Breakdown of Opettaja on kotoisin Saksasta.
opettaja
teacher
Saksa
Germany
olla kotoisin
to be from, to come from
Questions & Answers about Opettaja on kotoisin Saksasta.
Why do we need both kotoisin and the -sta ending? Do they not both mean 'from'?
The ending -sta does mean 'from', but the fixed phrase olla kotoisin specifically means 'to originate from' or 'to be a native of'. If you just say Opettaja on Saksasta, it could mean the teacher is just arriving back from a trip to Germany. Adding kotoisin makes it clear that Germany is their home country.
Is the word kotoisin related to the word for home?
Yes! It comes from the word koti, which means 'home'. You can think of the phrase olla kotoisin as meaning 'to have one's home in'. This is a helpful trick to remember what it means.
Why does Saksa become Saksasta here?
To say 'from' a place, Finnish attaches an ending to the word. For most countries and cities, you use the inner location ending -sta or -stä, which literally means 'out of'. So Saksa (Germany) becomes Saksasta (from Germany).
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