Breakdown of Päätös vaikuttaa koko tiimin suunnitelmiin.
suunnitelma
the plan
päätös
the decision
vaikuttaa
to affect
koko
whole
tiimi
the team
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Questions & Answers about Päätös vaikuttaa koko tiimin suunnitelmiin.
What does the word päätös mean and why is it in the nominative case here?
Päätös means decision. It’s in the nominative because it functions as the subject of the sentence—it’s the thing doing the affecting.
What does vaikuttaa mean here and why is it spelled with double t?
Vaikuttaa means to affect or to influence. It’s a type I verb whose stem ends in -ta. In the third person singular present tense, the stem’s final consonant is doubled and the preceding vowel is lengthened, so vaikuta becomes vaikuttaa.
Why is there no preposition equivalent to on, in, or to before suunnitelmiin?
Finnish uses noun cases rather than separate prepositions. Suunnitelmiin is the illative plural of suunnitelma (meaning plan), and literally into/to the plans. The verb vaikuttaa answers the question mihin (to what?), so its object goes in the illative.
What case is suunnitelmiin and how is the illative plural formed?
Suunnitelmiin is the illative plural form of suunnitelma. To build it from the nominative plural suunnitelmat, you drop -t, add the plural stem marker -i-, then add the illative ending -in: suunnitelma → suunnitelmi- → suunnitelmiin.
Why is koko tiimin in the genitive case and what does koko add?
Koko means whole or entire, so koko tiimin literally means of the whole team. In Finnish, a possessor (the one owning or being affected) is marked with the genitive case, hence tiimin is the genitive singular of tiimi.
Could you use the singular illative if there was only one plan?
Yes. If there were just one plan, you’d say Päätös vaikuttaa koko tiimin suunnitelmaan. Here the singular illative suunnitelmaan replaces the plural suunnitelmiin.
What’s the difference between vaikuttaa with the illative and with -lta?
With the illative (vaikuttaa + mihin), vaikuttaa means to affect or to influence. With the ablative -lta (vaikuttaa + miltä), it means to seem or to appear, as in Hän vaikuttaa mukavalta (means He seems nice).