Questions & Answers about Hänet pidätettiin kadulla.
Why is the word for 'he' in the form hänet instead of just hän?
When a verb is in the passive voice, the object normally looks like the basic dictionary form. However, personal pronouns are an exception! They must use their special accusative form ending in -t, which is why hän becomes hänet here.
How do we form the past passive pidätettiin from the verb pidättää?
For a type 1 verb like pidättää, you take the weak stem (pidätä-), change the final -ä to -e, and add the passive past ending -ttiin. Notice how the strong double -tt- in the middle of the word weakens to a single -t-.
Why does the word for street, katu, change to kadulla?
Adding the location ending -lla (on) closes the final syllable, which triggers consonant gradation. This rule causes the single -t- in katu to weaken into a -d-.
Could this sentence also mean 'She was arrested on the street'?
Absolutely. The Finnish pronoun hän (and its object form hänet) is gender-neutral and translates to both 'he' and 'she'.
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