Use the passive perfect potential negative to speculate that something was probably not done in the past. It translates to was probably not done or has likely not been done, making it perfect for debunking historical myths.
Forming the Negative
While the affirmative uses lienee + the passive past participle (e.g., lienee tehty), the negative replaces the auxiliary with ei liene. The participle stays exactly the same.
- The negative auxiliary ei liene
- The passive past participle (ending in -tu, -ty, -ttu, or -tty)
| In the Middle Ages, it was probably not thought that the earth is flat. | Keskiajalla ei liene ajateltu, että maapallo on litteä. |
| It is a common misunderstanding that was probably never corrected. | Se on yleinen väärinkäsitys, jota ei liene koskaan korjattu. |
Setting the Record Straight
This is useful for stating that a cruel emperor was not poisoned (myrkytetty) or that an old theory was not completely refuted (kumottu).
| The cruel emperor was probably not poisoned, although he died suddenly. | Julmaa keisaria ei liene myrkytetty, vaikka hän kuoli yhtäkkiä. |
| The old theory was probably not completely refuted. | Vanhaa teoriaa ei liene täysin kumottu. |
Plurals and the Partitive
Passive verbs do not change form to match the number of things receiving the action. The structure ei liene + participle remains identical whether talking about one item or many.
Because these sentences are negative, the object of the action is typically in the partitive case (e.g., sarvia, noitia).
| Horns were probably not used on Vikings' helmets. | Sarvia ei liene käytetty viikinkien kypärissä. |
| Witches were probably not burned in the Middle Ages. | Keskiajalla ei liene poltettu noitia. |