Viime viikolla matkustin lentokoneella toiseen kaupunkiin.

Last week I traveled by airplane to another city.

Breakdown of Viime viikolla matkustin lentokoneella toiseen kaupunkiin.

• matkustaa: to travel
• toinen: another
• kaupunki: the city
• -lla: by
• viime viikolla: last week
• lentokone: the airplane
• -in: to

Questions & Answers about Viime viikolla matkustin lentokoneella toiseen kaupunkiin.

What is the function of the time expression viime viikolla in the sentence, and why is it formed that way?

Viime viikolla means “last week.” Here, viime (last) modifies viikko (week), which appears in the adessive case (indicated by the ending -lla). In Finnish, time expressions often use the adessive case to situate events in time, much like saying “in winter” (talvella).

What tense is the verb matkustin, and how is this form used to indicate a completed action?

Matkustin is the first person singular simple past form of the verb matkustaa (to travel). In Finnish narratives, the simple past is commonly used to express actions that have been completed, and the ending -in marks it as past tense.

Why does the noun lentokone appear as lentokoneella, and what does this case indicate in the context of the sentence?

In the sentence, lentokoneella means “by plane.” The noun lentokone (airplane) takes the adessive case ending -lla to show the means or instrument of travel. Finnish often uses the adessive case for expressing transport or tools used to carry out an action.

How does the adjective toiseen agree with the noun kaupunkiin, and why is this agreement necessary?

Toiseen is the inflected form of toinen (another) that agrees in case with kaupunkiin (city), which is in the illative case. The illative case (marked by -in) indicates direction or destination (“to”), so the adjective must also take the illative form to maintain agreement with its accompanying noun.

What does the ending -iin in kaupunkiin signify, and how does it affect the meaning of the noun?

The ending -iin in kaupunkiin signals the illative case, which is used to express movement into or toward a place. Thus, kaupunkiin translates as “to (a) city,” emphasizing the direction or destination of the travel.

Why is the time expression placed at the beginning of the sentence, and what does this tell us about Finnish word order?

Placing viime viikolla at the beginning provides immediate temporal context for the action. Although Finnish word order is flexible due to its rich system of cases, fronting time or location phrases is common for emphasis and clarity in narratives.

What overall sentence structure can be observed in “Viime viikolla matkustin lentokoneella toiseen kaupunkiin”?

The sentence follows a structure where the time element is introduced first, followed by the verb, then the means of travel, and finally the destination. Each component is marked by its respective case (adessive for time and means, illative for destination), which clarifies the role of each element despite the flexible word order typical of Finnish.