Word
Utelias lapsi halusi uskoa johonkin.
Meaning
The curious child wanted to believe in something.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Utelias lapsi halusi uskoa johonkin.
lapsi
child
haluta
to want
jokin
something
uskoa
to believe
Questions & Answers about Utelias lapsi halusi uskoa johonkin.
Why does the sentence use johonkin instead of the basic word jokin?
The verb uskoa (to believe) requires the thing you believe in to be in the illative case, which is the 'into' case. In Finnish, you don't believe 'in' something, you believe 'into' it. Therefore, the basic word jokin (something) must change to its illative form, johonkin.
How exactly is the word johonkin formed?
The pronoun jokin is tricky because the case ending goes in the middle of the word. It is made of the base jo- and the suffix -kin. To put it in the illative case, the ending -hon attaches to the base to make johon-, and then the suffix -kin is added back at the very end, resulting in johonkin.
Why is the verb uskoa in its basic dictionary form?
This sentence uses a verb chain. The first verb halusi (wanted) is conjugated in the past tense to match the child. The second verb uskoa (to believe) stays in its basic infinitive form. This works just like English, where we conjugate the first verb and use 'to' for the second: 'wanted to believe'.
Will the adjective utelias change its form in other sentences?