Matka kestää kauemmin.

to last

Breakdown of Matka kestää kauemmin.

• matka: the trip
• kauemmin: longer

Questions & Answers about Matka kestää kauemmin.

What does each word do in this sentence?

• Matka: subject in the nominative singular (journey/trip).
• kestää: 3rd person singular present of kestää (to last; to take time).
• kauemmin: comparative adverb meaning “for a longer time,” from kauan (for a long time).

Why is the present tense used if we’re talking about a future trip?

Finnish commonly uses the present to talk about scheduled or expected future events. Context supplies the future meaning. So Matka kestää kauemmin can refer to a trip that will take longer.

Does kestää need an object? How is it used with time?

• When it means “to last/take (time),” kestää is intransitive. You can add a duration phrase: Matka kestää kaksi tuntia.
• It can also be transitive meaning “to endure/withstand”: En kestä melua (I can’t stand noise). Here the object is in the partitive because it’s an ongoing/indefinite quantity.

Could I say Matka on pidempi instead?

• Matka on pidempi = the trip is longer in distance/length.
• Matka kestää kauemmin = the trip takes longer in time. They’re related but not the same.

What’s the difference between kauemmin, pidempään/pitempään, and kauemman aikaa?