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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| FinnDevil Triglot Newbie Finland Joined 5391 days ago 7 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish | Message 9 of 13 20 February 2010 at 6:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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It doesn't matter, whether something is physical or telepathic, it's mainly the "completed vs incompleted" dimension that matters.
Minä potkin PALLOA vs. Minä potkin PALLON alas jyrkänteeltä. (I kick the ball over the cliff.) In the first sentence, the kicking has no specific end point, in theory it could go on indefinitely. In the second sentence, the kicking activity is completed when the ball is over the cliff. The use of accusative vs. partitive is maybe the trickiest thing in the Finnish grammar. Still, there are many non-native speakers who manage to master it almost as well as native speakers. Edited by FinnDevil on 20 February 2010 at 6:25pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| kyssäkaali Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5552 days ago 203 posts - 376 votes  Speaks: English*, Finnish | Message 10 of 13 20 February 2010 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | ||
This is actually a very clear and precise explanation. I'll remember this and see if it helps me in speech! Thanks! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marikki Tetraglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5494 days ago 130 posts - 210 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Spanish, Swedish Studies: German | Message 11 of 13 20 February 2010 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | ||
You could also say Hän löi minut maahan. (~He hit me [once] so hard that I fell.) Hän löi minut. (~He won me.) Hän löi minua. (~He punched me once or several times.) So, Kyssäkaali, keep on going by what sounds right :) soon you'll be able to hear also the finest tunes. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FinnDevil Triglot Newbie Finland Joined 5391 days ago 7 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish | Message 12 of 13 21 February 2010 at 12:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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The accusative emphasises the result, completion, finality, either/or aspect.
The partitive emphasises the process, incompletedness, partiality, fuzzy logic aspect. OK, these rules are quite abstract, it's probably best to observe how native speakers apply them and try to imitate that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| aabram Pentaglot Senior Member Estonia Joined 5532 days ago 138 posts - 263 votes Speaks: Estonian*, English, Spanish, Russian, Finnish Studies: Mandarin, French | Message 13 of 13 24 February 2010 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can't find exact quote anymore, but I remember one Finnish teacher comparing Finnish
and English saying that English is like a triangle standing on its base: it's very easy to get started, with relatively small effort one can accomplish lot right from the start, but as you progress, the difficulty still increases, keeping you busy with irregularities. Finnish, on the other hand, is triangle standing on its tip. It's hard to get started, you need to cover lot of ground just to progress a little, but it get's easier and easier the further you go and even small steps give you much more progress after certain point. Or something like that, the original quote was much more eloquent. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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