Breakdown of Hyvä yhteiskunta auttaa kansalaista.
hyvä
good
auttaa
to help
kansalainen
the citizen
yhteiskunta
the society
Questions & Answers about Hyvä yhteiskunta auttaa kansalaista.
Why is kansalaista in the partitive case here?
The verb auttaa (to help) is a partitive verb. This means it always requires its object to be in the partitive case. That is why we use kansalaista instead of the basic nominative form kansalainen.
How do we form the partitive kansalaista from the basic word kansalainen?
For nouns ending in -nen, you form the partitive singular by dropping the -nen ending and adding -sta or -stä. Here, kansalainen drops the -nen and takes -sta to become kansalaista.
Our current lesson is about the passive voice. How would you say "The citizen is helped"?
Why does kansalaista stay in the partitive case in the passive sentence Kansalaista autetaan?
Normally, the object of a passive sentence changes to the nominative case. However, because auttaa is a strict partitive verb, its object must always remain in the partitive case, even in the passive voice. This is a very important exception to remember!
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