Breakdown of Kapteeni tarvitsee kompassin, kun on yö.
olla
to be
tarvita
to need
yö
night
kun
when (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Kapteeni tarvitsee kompassin, kun on yö.
Why is there a comma before kun in this sentence?
In Finnish, you must use a comma before a subordinate conjunction like kun (when) if it separates two clauses that both have their own verbs (tarvitsee and on).
Why doesn't the second clause have a word for "it" before on yö?
Finnish doesn't use dummy subjects like "it" for time, weather, or general states. You simply say on yö (is night) instead of "it is night".
Why is the object kompassin ending in -n instead of being in the partitive case?
With the verb tarvita (to need), you use the genitive-accusative ending (-n) when you need one whole, countable thing. Because the captain needs one complete compass, it becomes kompassin.
What is the dictionary form of the verb tarvitsee?
The dictionary form is tarvita (to need). It belongs to verb type 5, a group of verbs where the -ta ending often changes to -tsee in the third-person singular (hän tarvitsee).