Questions & Answers about Auto ajaa talon taakse.
Why is it talon and not just talo?
In Finnish, when you use a postposition like 'behind', the noun before it usually needs to be in the genitive (possessive) case. Adding the -n makes it talon. It literally translates to something like 'to the house's behind'.
I learned that 'behind' is takana. Why is it taakse here?
Finnish changes the ending of location words depending on movement. You use takana when something is resting or already located behind something. Because the car is actively driving to the space behind the house, you must use the destination form, taakse.
Why does the word for 'behind' come after the word for 'house'?
In English, we use prepositions that come before the noun ('behind the house'). Finnish mostly uses postpositions, which come after the noun they describe. That is why taakse (behind) comes right after talon (the house).
Why does the verb ajaa look exactly like its basic dictionary form?
It is just a coincidence! The stem of the verb is aja-. To make the 'he/she/it' form (which we use for the car), you double the last vowel, making it ajaa. It just happens to look identical to the dictionary form.