Kirjasto lähettää muistutusviestin kaksi päivää ennen eräpäivää.

The library sends a reminder message two days before the due date.

Breakdown of Kirjasto lähettää muistutusviestin kaksi päivää ennen eräpäivää.

• ennen: before
• päivä: the day
• kirjasto: the library
• lähettää: to send
• kaksi: two
• muistutusviesti: the reminder message
• eräpäivä: the due date

Questions & Answers about Kirjasto lähettää muistutusviestin kaksi päivää ennen eräpäivää.

Why is Kirjasto in that form? Is it the subject?

Yes. Kirjasto is the subject and it’s in the nominative (the basic dictionary form). Finnish typically doesn’t mark the subject with a special ending in simple sentences like this; the “subject-ness” is shown by word order and verb agreement.

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How do we know who is doing the action in this sentence?

The doer is Kirjasto (the library), and the verb lähettää is in 3rd person singular, which matches kirjasto:

• lähettää = (it) sends

So the subject + verb agreement supports that Kirjasto is doing the sending.

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Why is the verb lähettää in present tense if the action might happen in the future?

Finnish present tense often covers:

• habitual actions (what usually happens), and
• scheduled/expected future actions (especially in contexts like services and routines)

So Kirjasto lähettää... can naturally mean the library sends (as a rule / typically), even if the actual sending happens on a later date.

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Why is the object muistutusviestin ending in -n?

Because it’s a “total object” (a complete, bounded action: sending one whole reminder message). In the indicative present like this, a singular total object usually appears as:

• genitive-looking -n: muistutusviestin

Compare:

• lähettää muistutusviestin = sends the reminder message (a complete item)
• lähettää muistutusviestiä = sends reminder message / is sending some reminder message (partial/ongoing/indefinite)

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Is muistutusviestin accusative or genitive? I’ve heard Finnish has an accusative.

Functionally it’s the object case (often called “accusative object”), but in Finnish the singular total object is typically marked like the genitive (-n) in most normal affirmative sentences:

• muistutusviestin looks genitive, but it’s serving the total-object role here.

Finnish “accusative” is mostly visible with personal pronouns (e.g., minut, sinut) and in some specific constructions; otherwise the object marking overlaps with genitive/nominative/partitive patterns.

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What does the compound word muistutusviesti mean structurally? How is it built?

It’s a compound noun:

• muistutus = reminder
• viesti = message
• muistutusviesti = reminder message

Then it’s inflected as one word:

• nominative: muistutusviesti
• total object here: muistutusviestin

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Why is it kaksi päivää and not kaksi päivät or kaksi päivän?

After numbers greater than one, Finnish typically uses the partitive singular for the counted noun:

• kaksi päivää = two days
• kolme kirjaa = three books

So päivää is the partitive singular of päivä.

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Why does ennen use eräpäivää (partitive) instead of eräpäivän?

Because ennen is a postposition that governs the partitive case:

• ennen eräpäivää = before the due date

Many Finnish postpositions require a specific case, and ennen + partitive is a key one to memorize.

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Can the word order be changed? What is “neutral” here?

Yes, Finnish word order is flexible, but the given order is neutral and typical:

• Kirjasto lähettää muistutusviestin kaksi päivää ennen eräpäivää.

You could move the time phrase for emphasis:

• Kaksi päivää ennen eräpäivää kirjasto lähettää muistutusviestin. (emphasizes the timing)

The cases keep the meaning clear even if you reshuffle elements.

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What exactly is eräpäivä? Is it the same as a return date?

Eräpäivä is the general term for a due date (deadline for returning/paying/etc.). In a library context it refers to the date something is due to be returned (or renewed). You might also see more specific wording depending on the system, but eräpäivä is very common and natural here.