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Älkää käyttäkö salamaa, koska eläimet pelkäävät sitä.

Älkää käyttäkö salamaa, koska eläimet pelkäävät sitä.
Do not use a flash, because the animals are afraid of it.
From Lesson 136:Negative plural and formal commands (älkää)·Finnish

Questions & Answers about Älkää käyttäkö salamaa, koska eläimet pelkäävät sitä.

How do we form the plural negative command älkää käyttäkö?
It uses the plural negative verb älkää (don't) followed by the main verb's connegative stem plus the ending -ko or -kö. For the verb käyttää (to use), the stem is käyttä-, so adding -kö gives us käyttäkö. This is how you tell multiple people (or someone formally) not to do something.
Why is the word for flash (salama) in the partitive case as salamaa?
In Finnish, when a sentence is negative, the object of that sentence must almost always be in the partitive case. Because this is a negative command ("do not use"), the object salama takes the partitive ending -a.
What is the base form of pelkäävät (they are afraid), and where does the "k" come from?
The infinitive is pelätä. It is a Type 4 verb, which means it undergoes "reverse" consonant gradation. The infinitive form is in the "weak" grade (no k), but when you conjugate it for the present tense, it changes to the "strong" grade and the k appears (pelkään, pelkäävät).
Why does the sentence use sitä (partitive) instead of se (nominative) for the word "it"?
Sitä is the partitive form of se. The verb pelätä (to fear / be afraid of) is a partitive verb. This means it always requires its object to be in the partitive case, as feeling an emotion like fear is viewed as an ongoing, continuous action.

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