Questions & Answers about Tämä jälki jätettiin yöllä.
How is the passive past verb jätettiin (was left) formed here?
Why is there a single t in the first part of jätettiin, but a double tt later on?
The verb jättää undergoes consonant gradation. The passive voice always uses the "weak" stem, so the original double tt weakens to a single t (jäte-). The double tt you see later on actually belongs to the passive past ending itself (-ttiin), which is attached to that weak stem.
"This trace" is the object being left. Why is Tämä jälki in the basic dictionary form instead of having an -n object ending?
This is a very important rule for the passive voice! When a sentence is in the passive, its whole object does not take the usual -n ending (the accusative/genitive shape). Instead, it stays in the nominative (dictionary) form. If the sentence were active ("I left this trace"), it would be Jätin tämän jäljen.
Why is the ending -llä used in yöllä (at night)?
The adessive case (-lla / -llä) is frequently used with times of the day to express when something happens. You use the exact same pattern for other times of day, like aamulla (in the morning) and päivällä (during the day).
Learn Tämä jälki jätettiin yöllä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free