Breakdown of Täällä sallitaan vain pienet eläimet.
täällä
here
pieni
small
vain
only
eläin
animal
sallia
to allow
Questions & Answers about Täällä sallitaan vain pienet eläimet.
How is the passive verb sallitaan formed from the dictionary word sallia?
Sallia (to allow) is a Type 1 verb. To make it passive, we take the weak verb stem (which is just salli- here, as there is no consonant gradation), add the passive marker -ta-, and then add the passive personal ending -an. This gives us sallitaan (is/are allowed).
Why is the object pienet eläimet (small animals) in the basic nominative plural form? Shouldn't objects often take a different case?
In passive sentences, the rules for objects change! Plural objects in the passive voice stay in their basic nominative plural form (ending in -t), just like pienet eläimet. For singular objects, the passive drops the usual -n object ending, so it also looks like a basic nominative word. We do not use the partitive case here because the sentence applies to all small animals as a complete group.
There is no word for 'it' or 'they' at the beginning of the sentence. How does the sentence work without a subject?
The Finnish passive implies that an unspecified person or group of people is doing the action. It literally translates to something like 'Here (people) allow only small animals.' Because the passive verb sallitaan already contains the idea of an unspecified 'someone', you do not need a pronoun. Finnish often puts the location (täällä) first to set the scene instead of needing a dummy subject like 'it'.
Why use täällä for 'here' instead of tässä?
Both mean 'here', but täällä refers to a larger, more general area like a restaurant, a park, or an entire building. Tässä points to an exact, specific spot, like right here in this specific chair. Since the sentence is talking about a general rule for an establishment or area, täällä is the most natural choice.
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