Breakdown of Joukkueella on palkinto, mutta en tiedä, hävisimmekö.
olla
to be
mutta
but
ei
no / not (negative verb)
tietää
to know
joukkue
team
hävitä
to lose
palkinto
prize
Questions & Answers about Joukkueella on palkinto, mutta en tiedä, hävisimmekö.
How does 'if we lost' become hävisimmekö?
In English, we use words like 'if' or 'whether' for indirect questions. In Finnish, you do not use a separate word. Instead, you attach the question ending -ko or -kö directly to the verb, just like you would in a regular question. hävisimme means 'we lost', so adding -kö makes it mean 'whether we lost' or 'if we lost' in this context.
Why does the ending use -kö instead of -ko?
This is because of vowel harmony. The word hävisimme contains the front vowels ä and i. Because the word uses front vowels, any endings attached to it must also use front vowels. Therefore, we use -kö instead of -ko.
How do we get the past tense hävisimme from the dictionary form hävitä (to lose)?
hävitä is a Type 4 verb. To make the past tense for these verbs, the -tä or -ta ending changes to -si- before you add the personal ending. Here, we add the 'we' ending -mme to the past stem hävisi-, resulting in hävisimme.
Why does 'the team has' translate to joukkueella on?
Finnish does not have a direct verb for 'to have'. Instead, you express ownership by putting the owner in the 'on/at' case (the adessive ending -lla or -llä) followed by the verb on (is). So joukkueella on palkinto literally translates to 'on the team is a prize'.
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