Questions & Answers about Valtio päättää uudesta laista.
This lesson is about the passive voice. How would you change this sentence to the passive to say "The new law is decided upon"?
You would drop the subject (valtio) and change the verb to its passive form, päätetään. The sentence becomes Uudesta laista päätetään. Remember that in Finnish, the passive is always used when the action is done by an unspecified group of people.
Why are the words for "new law" (uudesta laista) in the -sta form?
The verb päättää (to decide) requires the thing you are deciding about to be in the elative case (ending in -sta or -stä). While in English you decide "on" something, Finnish grammar requires this specific case ending with this verb.
Where did the "k" go in laista (from the dictionary word laki, meaning law)?
This happens because of consonant gradation. When we add an ending that closes the syllable, like -sta, the strong consonant k in laki disappears. The stem becomes lai-, resulting in laista.
How does the word uusi (new) become uudesta?
Finnish words that end in -si (like uusi or vesi) usually change that -si to -de- or -te- when you add most endings. Here, uusi changes to its stem uude- before we add the -sta ending.
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