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Questions & Answers about Etsimme virkailijoita.
Why does this sentence use the partitive case for the clerks?
The verb etsiä (to look for) is a partitive verb. Because searching is an ongoing action where you haven't found the thing yet, the object must be in the partitive case. Since there are multiple clerks, we use the partitive plural.
How does the base word virkailija become virkailijoita?
When a noun ends in the suffix -ija or -ijä, the final -a or -ä changes to -o- or -ö- to make the plural stem. We then add the plural -i- and the partitive ending -ta, giving us virkailijoi- + -ta.
Why is the partitive ending here -ta instead of just -a?
In the partitive plural, the choice between -a/-ä and -ta/-tä depends on the letters before it. Because the plural stem virkailijoi- ends in two vowels (a diphthong), we must use the -ta ending.
Why is the word me (we) missing from the beginning of the sentence?
In Finnish, the verb ending -mme in etsimme already makes it clear that the subject is we. While you can say me etsimme, it is completely natural and very common to drop the pronoun.