Breakdown of Kukaan ei ole kotona.
olla
to be
kotona
at home
ei
no / not (negative verb)
kukaan
anyone, nobody (with negation)
Questions & Answers about Kukaan ei ole kotona.
Why do we use "ei ole" (is not) when "kukaan" already means "nobody"?
In English we say "Nobody is," but Finnish uses a double negative structure. Kukaan actually means something closer to "anyone," so you must pair it with the negative verb ei (not) to mean "nobody." Literally, this sentence says "Anyone is not at home."
Where does the word "kukaan" come from?
It is built from the question word kuka (who). By adding the ending -kaan, it becomes kukaan. When used with a negative verb, it means "nobody" or "no one."
Why is "home" translated as "kotona" instead of just "koti"?
Koti is the basic dictionary word for "home." However, to say that someone is literally at home, Finnish uses the fixed location form kotona. It is usually best for beginners to simply memorize kotona as a set phrase meaning "at home."
This lesson is about negative sentences needing the partitive case. Why isn't "kotona" in the partitive here?
You are right that negative sentences usually force the partitive case, such as when you say you don't have something (Minulla ei ole autoa). However, that rule only applies to the object of the sentence. Kotona describes a location, not an object you own or interact with, so it does not take the partitive ending.
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