Breakdown of Kartta auttaa turisteja suunnittelemaan reittinsä.
auttaa
to help
kartta
the map
turisti
the tourist
suunnitella
to plan
Questions & Answers about Kartta auttaa turisteja suunnittelemaan reittinsä.
Why is turisteja in the partitive plural, not nominative?
The verb auttaa (“to help”) typically takes its object in the partitive case to indicate an ongoing or incomplete action. Here turisteja is also plural because we’re talking about “(some) tourists” in general.
What role does kartta play in the sentence and why is it in the nominative?
Kartta (“the map”) is the subject of the sentence. In Finnish, the subject of a declarative clause stands in the nominative case.
Why is the form suunnittelemaan used instead of a plain infinitive like suunnitella?
After verbs like auttaa, you use the third infinitive in illative (the “-maan” form) to express “helping to do something.” So suunnitella becomes suunnittelemaan (“to plan”).
What does reittinsä mean, and why does it look so long?
Reittinsä breaks down into reitti (“route”) + -nsä, the third-person possessive suffix. Together it means “their route.” The suffix -nsä tells us the route belongs to the tourists.
Could we say suunnittelemaan reitin instead of suunnittelemaan reittinsä?