to last
- Kuinka kauan tämä kestää? - How long will this last?
- Kylläpä se kesti! - Man, that took a long time!
- Mikä sulla kestää? - What's taking you so long?
to stand, to tolerate, to cope, to hold up
- Kuinka te kestätte toisianne? - How can you stand each other?
- Mä en kestä tätä enää! - I cannot take this anymore.
- Kestä vielä vähän aikaa. - Hold up for a while.
to be strong enough
- Kestääkö tämä tuoli minua? - Can I sit on this chair or will it break?
- Jää ei kestä enää. - The ice is not strong enough (for people to walk on it) anymore.
These words are derived from kestää:
- kestävä: Tämä on tosi kestävää materiaalia. - This is really durable material.
- kesto-: Käytättekö kestovaippoja? - Do you use cloth diapers?
Finally, here's the explanation for Eipä kestä:
Back in the old days, one of the meanings of kestää was to deserve. Maybe it's still like that in some dialects, but I cannot think of an example. When we answer Ei kestä or Eipä kestä to Kiitos, we actually mean Ei kestä kiittää. = Whatever I said or did wasn't so special that it would deserve a thank you.
Aha, so it's like the English expression "no need to thank", sometimes also shortened to just "no need"
ReplyDeleteQuite often I use "Mikä maksaa?" when meaning what is taking you so long. If you would say "Mitä maksaa?" it would mean "how much does it cost?". Just my comment slightly off topic.
ReplyDeleteTotta. Hyvä lisäys, Laura!
ReplyDelete