Breakdown of Itsenäinen ihminen ottaa vastuun.
ihminen
human
ottaa
to take
itsenäinen
independent
vastuu
responsibility
Questions & Answers about Itsenäinen ihminen ottaa vastuun.
The current lesson is about itse (self) with possessive suffixes. Why doesn't itsenäinen have one?
Itsenäinen is actually an adjective meaning "independent." It is built from the same root word itse, but because it has been turned into a completely new adjective using the -näinen ending, it doesn't take possessive suffixes like itseni (myself) or itsensä (himself/herself) would.
Why is the word for responsibility written as vastuun instead of just vastuu?
It is in the accusative case (which looks exactly like the genitive, ending in -n). This shows that it is the total object of the sentence. The person isn't taking "some" responsibility (which would be the partitive vastuuta), they are taking "the" full responsibility for something.
Why does ottaa keep the double tt here? Doesn't it usually change to a single t?
The verb ottaa (to take) undergoes consonant gradation, but the third-person singular form (hän ottaa) is always in the strong grade. You only drop to the weak grade (a single t) in closed syllables, like otan (I take) or otat (you take).
Can I build other words from itsenäinen?
Yes! A very common one at this level is the noun itsenäisyys (independence), which you will see in the compound word itsenäisyyspäivä (Independence Day).
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