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Questions & Answers about Älä riko tietokonetta.
How do we form the negative command "do not" in this sentence?
We use the word älä, which is the negative imperative (command) form for "you" (singular). In Finnish, the negative word is actually a verb that changes depending on who you are talking to, and älä specifically means "do not" when addressing one person.
Why is the verb form riko instead of its dictionary form rikkoa?
Negative commands are formed using älä plus the stem of the main verb. You find this stem by taking the "I" form of the verb (rikon) and removing the -n. This is why the double kk in rikkoa changes to a single k in riko, following the normal consonant gradation rules.
Why does tietokone (computer) have the ending -tta here?
The word tietokonetta is in the partitive case. A strict rule in Finnish grammar is that the object of any negative sentence must be in the partitive case. Because älä makes this a negative command, we must use the partitive form of the object.
What makes up the word tietokone?
It is a very logical compound word! It combines tieto (knowledge or information) and kone (machine). Literally, a computer in Finnish is an "information machine".