Breakdown of Opas sanoo, että eläimet ovat vaarallisia. Älkää ruokkiko niitä.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
sanoa
to say
että
that (conjunction)
opas
the guide
eläin
animal
vaarallinen
dangerous
älkää
do not (plural/formal)
ruokkia
to feed
Questions & Answers about Opas sanoo, että eläimet ovat vaarallisia. Älkää ruokkiko niitä.
Why does the verb have the ending -ko in "älkää ruokkiko"?
This is how you form a negative command for a group of people (or when speaking formally). You use the plural negative word älkää (do not), and then add -ko or -kö to the stem of the main verb. For the verb ruokkia (to feed), the stem is ruokki-, so it becomes ruokkiko.
Shouldn't the double 'kk' in "ruokkiko" weaken to a single 'k' due to consonant gradation?
No, because plural imperative forms use the strong stem of the verb! To find this stem for a type 1 verb like ruokkia, you can look at the "he/she" form (ruokkii) and drop the final vowel. The double kk stays strong, making it älkää ruokkiko instead of älkää ruokiko.
Why is the word for "them" (niitä) in the partitive case?
Niitä is the partitive plural of ne (they/those). There are two reasons it is in the partitive here: first, the verb ruokkia (to feed) is a partitive verb, meaning its object is always in the partitive. Second, objects of negative sentences and negative commands are almost always in the partitive case anyway.
Why is "vaarallisia" in the partitive plural instead of a normal plural like "vaaralliset"?
When you use the verb olla (to be) to describe a plural subject like eläimet (the animals), the adjective describing them must be in the partitive plural. If you were describing a singular animal, it would be in the basic nominative form: eläin on vaarallinen (the animal is dangerous).
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