Breakdown of Hän lopettaa viestin sanoilla: parhain terveisin.
hän
he / she
sana
word
viesti
message
lopettaa
to stop (something), to quit
parhain terveisin
best regards (formal closing)
Questions & Answers about Hän lopettaa viestin sanoilla: parhain terveisin.
What case is used in the phrase parhain terveisin?
This is the instructive case, which ends in -in and almost always appears in the plural. It expresses the method or instrument used to do something. In modern Finnish, the adessive case has mostly taken over this function (as seen with sanoilla in this very sentence), but the instructive survives in fixed, idiomatic phrases like parhain terveisin (with best regards) and paljain jaloin (barefoot).
Is parhain related to the word paras (best)?
Yes, here it is the plural instructive form of paras. To build it, you take the plural stem parhai- and add the instructive ending -n. You might also recognize parhain as an alternative, slightly poetic dictionary-form superlative of hyvä (good), but in this phrase, it is strictly an adjective agreeing with the plural instructive noun terveisin.
Why use the adessive sanoilla instead of the illative sanoihin with the verb lopettaa?
Why is the object viestin in the genitive-looking accusative case instead of the partitive?
The verb lopettaa (to finish or to end) inherently describes a completed action. Because the action of finishing the message is carried through to its logical end, the singular object takes the accusative case, which looks identical to the genitive (viestin). If the sentence were negative, the action wouldn't be completed, and you would use the partitive viestiä.
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