The Guardian World 6d ago Original

Tyfon Maysak tappoi kaksi ihmistä Kiinassa.

Typhoon Maysak killed two people in China.

Finnish · A1 level

Simple Finnish

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1.

Eteläisessä Kiinassa sataa paljon vettä.

It is raining a lot in southern China.
2.

Tuhannet ihmiset lähtevät kodeistaan.

Thousands of people are leaving their homes.
3.

Maysak aiheutti tulvia Nanningissa.

Maysak caused floods in Nanning.
4.

Maysak meni ensin Vietnamiin.

Maysak first went to Vietnam.
5.

Maysak meni myös Hainaniin.

Maysak also went to Hainan.
6.

Maysak heikkenee ja menee sisämaahan.

Maysak is weakening and moving inland.
7.

Meteorologit ennustavat lisää sadetta.

Meteorologists predict more rain.
8.

Vettä sataa vielä muutaman päivän.

It will rain for a few more days.

Key Words

Word	English	Form
tappaa tappoi	to kill killed	past tense (imperfect)
sataa sataa	to rain is raining / rains	impersonal verb (3rd person singular)
lähteä lähtevät	to leave are leaving	present tense (3rd person plural)
mennä meni	to go went	past tense (imperfect)
heiketä heikkenee	to weaken is weakening	present tense (3rd person singular)
ennustaa ennustavat	to predict predict	present tense (3rd person plural)

0. Tyfon Maysak tappoi kaksi ihmistä Kiinassa.

This sentence uses the past tense (imperfect) form of the verb 'tappaa' (to kill), which is 'tappoi.' In Finnish, the past tense is often used to describe completed actions in the past. To form the past tense for most verbs, you add '-i' to the verb stem. For example, 'syödä' (to eat) becomes 'söin' (I ate). This structure is essential for talking about past events.

1. Eteläisessä Kiinassa sataa paljon vettä.

This sentence uses the inessive case ('-ssa/-ssä') to indicate location, as in 'Eteläisessä Kiinassa' (in southern China). The inessive case is used to describe where something is happening. For example, 'Helsingissä' means 'in Helsinki.' To use the inessive case, add '-ssa' to words ending in a vowel and '-ssä' to words ending in a consonant, following vowel harmony rules.

2. Tuhannet ihmiset lähtevät kodeistaan.

This sentence uses the elative case ('-sta/-stä') in 'kodeistaan' (from their homes). The elative case indicates movement out of a place. For example, 'talosta' means 'from the house.' To form the elative case, add '-sta' or '-stä' to the word stem, depending on vowel harmony. This case is useful for describing where someone or something is coming from.