Auto on kaupan ulkopuolella.

to be

Breakdown of Auto on kaupan ulkopuolella.

• auto: the car
• kauppa: the store
• ulkopuolella: outside

Questions & Answers about Auto on kaupan ulkopuolella.

Why is auto in the nominative case and not in the partitive?

Because auto is the subject of the sentence. In Finnish, subjects are in the nominative case. The partitive would only be used if the verb required it (e.g. expressing incomplete action, quantities, etc.), which olla (“to be”) does not.

What does on mean here?

on is the 3rd person singular form of the verb olla (“to be”). It works just like English “is,” linking the subject (auto) to its location (here, “outside the shop”).

Why is kaupan in the genitive case?

The locative expression ulkopuolella (“outside of”) is actually a postposition that requires its complement (the thing you’re outside of) to be in the genitive. So kauppa (“shop”) becomes kaupan.

How is ulkopuolella formed, and what case does it represent?

It’s built from ulko- (“outside”) + puoli (“side”) + the adessive case ending -lla (meaning “on”). Literally it’s “on the outside side of,” functionally “outside of.”

Can I use ulkona instead of ulkopuolella?