Learn Finnish: Viallista osaa ei oteta laatikosta. - A defective part is not taken from the box.

Viallista osaa ei oteta laatikosta.

A defective part is not taken from the box.

Breakdown of Viallista osaa ei oteta laatikosta.

no / not (negative verb)

Questions & Answers about Viallista osaa ei oteta laatikosta.

How do we form the negative passive in ei oteta?

To make a negative passive, you use the negative word ei and the passive present verb without its final -an or -en. The positive passive for 'is taken' is otetaan. Drop the -an, and you get the negative form ei oteta.

Why is the object viallista osaa in the partitive case here?

Because the sentence is negative. In Finnish, if an action is not happening, the object of that action must be in the partitive case. If this sentence were positive, the object would be in the basic nominative case: Viallinen osa otetaan laatikosta.

How does the dictionary word viallinen become viallista?

Words ending in -nen, like the adjective viallinen, change their ending to -s- before taking the partitive ending -ta. So, viallinen becomes viallis- and then adds -ta to match its noun osaa.

Why use the ending -sta on laatikosta?

The ending -sta means 'out of' or 'from inside' something. Since a part is being taken from inside the box, we use this ending. Also notice that the strong double -kk- in the dictionary word laatikko weakens to a single -k- when this ending is added.