Breakdown of Minä en pyytänyt kultaa keijuilta.
minä
I
ei
no / not (negative verb)
pyytää
to ask for
kulta
gold
keiju
fairy
Questions & Answers about Minä en pyytänyt kultaa keijuilta.
How is the ablative plural formed in keijuilta?
Why is the ablative case used for the fairies in this sentence?
In English you ask someone 'for' something, but in Finnish you ask 'from' someone. The verb pyytää (to ask or request) requires the person you are asking to be in the ablative case. Therefore, asking the fairies becomes asking from the fairies (keijuilta).
Why is the verb pyytänyt instead of the regular past tense pyysin?
This is a negative past tense sentence. In Finnish, you form the negative past by using the conjugated negative verb (here en for 'I didn't') followed by the past participle of the main verb, which usually ends in -nut or -nyt. The past participle of pyytää is pyytänyt.
Why is kultaa in the partitive case?
The verb pyytää requires the thing you are asking for to be in the partitive case. This reflects that you are asking for an indefinite amount of it ('some gold'). The partitive form of kulta is kultaa.
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