The Guardian Life 6d ago Original

Meksikon kaupunki uppoaa maahan.

A city in Mexico is sinking into the ground.

Finnish · A1 level

Simple Finnish

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1.

Kaupunki uppoaa kaksi senttimetriä kuukaudessa.

The city sinks two centimeters every month.
2.

Nasa mittaa kaupungin uppoamista tutkalla.

NASA measures the city's sinking with radar.
3.

Tutka antaa uutta tietoa kaupungin uppoamisesta.

The radar provides new data on the sinking.
4.

Katedraali kallistuu yhteen suuntaan.

The cathedral leans in one direction.
5.

Toinen kirkko kallistuu toiseen suuntaan.

Another church leans in the other direction.
6.

Kansallispalatsi näyttää vinolta.

The National Palace looks crooked.
7.

Historialliset rakennukset kallistuvat.

Historic buildings are tilting.
8.

Uppoaminen on kestänyt yli sata vuotta.

The sinking has lasted over a hundred years.

Key Words

Word	English	Form
upota uppoaa	to sink is sinking	Present tense, 3rd person singular
kallistua kallistuu	to lean/tilt leans/is leaning	Present tense, 3rd person singular
mitata mittaa	to measure measures	Present tense, 3rd person singular
kaupunki kaupungin	city city's / of the city	Genitive case singular
suunta suuntaan	direction into a direction	Illative case singular
tutka tutkalla	radar with radar	Adessive case singular

0. Meksikon kaupunki uppoaa maahan.

This sentence uses the present tense ('uppoaa') to describe an ongoing action. In Finnish, the present tense is formed by adding personal endings to the verb stem. Here, '-aa' indicates the 3rd person singular. This structure is used for actions happening now or generally true facts. For example, 'Hän syö' (He/she eats) or 'Auto ajaa' (The car drives).

1. Kaupunki uppoaa kaksi senttimetriä kuukaudessa.

This sentence uses the partitive case ('kaksi senttimetriä') to indicate an unspecified amount or part of something. The partitive is often used with quantities, measurements, or uncountable nouns. Here, it shows how much the city sinks per month. For example, 'Ostan maitoa' (I buy milk) or 'Hän juo vettä' (He/she drinks water).

4. Katedraali kallistuu yhteen suuntaan.

The illative case ('suuntaan') is used here to indicate movement or direction into something. The illative answers the question 'mihin?' (into what?). In this sentence, it shows the direction in which the cathedral leans. For example, 'Menen kauppaan' (I go to the store) or 'Laitan kirjan pöytään' (I put the book on the table).