Breakdown of Omistaja kertoi, että portaikon valot vaihdetaan energiatehokkaisiin lamppuihin.
kertoa
to tell
-iin
to
valo
the light
että
that
lamppu
the lamp
omistaja
the owner
portaikon
the staircase’s
vaihtaa
to replace
energiatehokas
energy-efficient
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Questions & Answers about Omistaja kertoi, että portaikon valot vaihdetaan energiatehokkaisiin lamppuihin.
Why is kertoi used instead of kertoo?
Kertoi is the past tense of the verb kertoa, which means to tell. It shows that the owner told something in the past. In Finnish, the tense of the reporting verb in the main clause does not force the same tense inside the että-clause. If the telling happened earlier you use kertoi, whereas kertoo would imply a present action.
Why is there a comma before että and why is että necessary?
Verbs like kertoa, sanoa and mainita introduce a subordinate statement and require että, which corresponds to that in English. You always separate the main clause and the että-clause with a comma. The comma marks the boundary between the two clauses.
Why is vaihdetaan in the passive form?
Vaihdetaan is the present passive of vaihtaa (to change or replace). Finnish uses the passive (sometimes called the agentless voice) when the doer is general, unknown or not important. Here it means the lights will be changed without specifying who does it.
How does portaikon valot work grammatically?
This is a possessive construction. Portaikko means staircase, and its genitive form is portaikon (of the staircase). Valot is the nominative plural of valo (light). So portaikon valot literally means the lights of the staircase. In the passive clause, valot remains nominative because it functions as the object.
Why are energiatehokkaisiin and lamppuihin in the illative plural?
In the pattern vaihtaa A B (to change A into B), the target B takes the illative case (meaning into). For plural nouns, Finnish uses the ending -ihin, often with a linking vowel. Here lamppu forms the stem lamppui-, so the plural illative is lamppuihin. The adjective energiatehokas agrees in case and number, becoming energiatehokkaisiin.
How is the compound adjective energiatehokas formed?
Energiatehokas is a compound of energia (energy) and tehokas (efficient). In Finnish compounds, the final vowel of the first word is often dropped when joining, so energia + tehokas becomes energiatehokas.
What is the difference between portaat and portaikko?
Portaat refers to individual steps or stairs (plural). Portaikko refers to the entire staircase structure. That is why the sentence uses portaikon (genitive of portaikko) to express of the staircase rather than portaiden (genitive plural of portaat).