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Sovitan uusia kenkiä kaupassa.

Sovitan uusia kenkiä kaupassa.
I try on new shoes in the store.
FromLesson 16inHardcore Finnish
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Breakdown of Sovitan uusia kenkiä kaupassa.

minä
I
uusi
new
kauppa
the store
-ssa
in
sovittaa
to try on
kenkä
the shoe

Questions & Answers about Sovitan uusia kenkiä kaupassa.

What is sovitan, and how is it formed?
Sovitan is the 1st person singular present tense of the verb sovittaa (type 1), meaning to try on. The stem is sovitta- and the personal ending for I is -n.
Why is uusia kenkiä in the partitive plural instead of the nominative or the accusative plural?

Finnish uses the partitive case for
• the object of an action that is ongoing or incomplete
• indefinite quantities, especially in plurals
Here uusia kenkiä is partitive plural because the action of trying on shoes is unfinished and you are not specifying particular fully affected shoes.

Why is the adjective uusia also in the partitive plural?
In Finnish adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in case and number. Since kenkiä is partitive plural, uusi becomes partitive plural uusia.
What case is kaupassa, and why is it used here instead of something like kauppaan?

Kaupassa is the inessive case with suffix -ssa, indicating location inside. It means in the shop.
Use the inessive for in or on a location. Kauppaan is the allative case meaning into the shop.

How does Finnish express in the shop without a preposition like in English?
Finnish replaces most prepositions with grammatical cases. Location in is expressed by the inessive case with suffix -ssa on kauppa, giving kaupassa.
Could I say Sovitan kengät kaupassa instead of uusia kenkiä? What changes?

Yes, but with a nuance:
• kengät in the nominative or accusative plural marks a specific fully affected set of shoes
• uusia kenkiä in the partitive implies an indefinite pair or an ongoing action of trying them on
Using kengät could sound like you fit or finish fitting those shoes rather than trying some new shoes.

Is the word order in Sovitan uusia kenkiä kaupassa fixed, or can I move the parts around?

Finnish word order is relatively free. The neutral order is Subject-Verb-Object, but you can reorder for emphasis, for example
• Kaupassa sovitan uusia kenkiä (emphasizes location)
• Uusia kenkiä sovitan kaupassa (emphasizes the shoes)

Are there other verbs to express to try on shoes in Finnish?

Yes: kokeilla, meaning to try or to test, is common. You can say Kokeilen uusia kenkiä kaupassa.
Sovittaa conveys fitting something to you, whereas kokeilla covers trying on in a broader sense.

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