Breakdown of Hän ei kuntoillut ulkona, koska sää oli huono.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
ulkona
outside
koska
because
Questions & Answers about Hän ei kuntoillut ulkona, koska sää oli huono.
Why does the past participle kuntoillut end in -llut instead of the usual -nut?
Kuntoillut comes from the Verb Type 3 word kuntoilla (to exercise). In Verb Type 3, the standard past participle ending -nut assimilates (blends) with the final consonant of the verb root. Because the root of this verb ends in -l, the -n changes to match it, resulting in -llut instead of -lnut.
Why do we use the past participle kuntoillut here instead of the past tense verb kuntoili?
In Finnish, you cannot use a regular past tense verb like kuntoili in a negative sentence. To form the negative past tense, you must use the conjugated negative verb (here, ei) followed by the active past participle of the main verb (kuntoillut).
Would the form of kuntoillut change if the subject was "they" (he) instead of "he" (hän)?
Yes! The past participle must agree with the subject in number. Because hän is singular, we use the singular form kuntoillut. If the subject were plural (he), the ending would change to the plural form -lleet, making the phrase he eivät kuntoilleet.
What grammatical form is the word ulkona (outside)?