Breakdown of Tätä tapausta ei selvitetty.
tämä
this
ei
no / not (negative verb)
tapaus
case
selvittää
to solve
Questions & Answers about Tätä tapausta ei selvitetty.
Why does the verb end in -tty instead of the regular past passive -ttiin?
In negative passive sentences, you do not use the regular past passive ending. Instead, you use the negative word ei followed by the passive past participle, which ends in -ttu, -tty, -tu, or -ty. Here, the positive selvitettiin (was solved) becomes ei selvitetty (was not solved).
Why is tätä tapausta in the partitive case?
In Finnish passive sentences, the thing being acted upon is grammatically the object. A strict rule in Finnish is that the object of a negative sentence must always be in the partitive case. So, the basic form tämä tapaus changes to the partitive tätä tapausta.
What is the dictionary form of the verb selvitetty?
The base verb is selvittää, which means to solve, to find out, or to clear up. Because it is a front-vowel word containing e, i, and ä, its passive endings also use front vowels, which is why we see -tty instead of -ttu.
Does this sentence specify who failed to solve the case?
No. The Finnish passive voice is used when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or an unspecified group of people. Just like the English translation, it leaves the people investigating the case completely unmentioned.
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