Breakdown of Ettekö te ajattele, että sääntö on naurettava?
olla
to be
te
you (plural/formal)
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
ajatella
to think
sääntö
rule
että
that (conjunction)
naurettava
ridiculous
Questions & Answers about Ettekö te ajattele, että sääntö on naurettava?
How does the word Ettekö work in this sentence?
Ettekö is made of two parts: the negative verb ette (you don't, plural or polite) and the question particle -kö. To ask a negative yes/no question like "Don't you...?", you attach -ko/-kö directly to the negative verb and put it at the start of the sentence.
Why is the pronoun te included when Ettekö already means "don't you"?
While Ettekö alone is enough, Finnish often keeps pronouns like te (you, plural) for rhythm or slight emphasis. It is completely correct to say Ettekö ajattele, että... and leave te out entirely.
Why is the verb ajattele missing its personal ending here?
Because it follows a negative verb. In Finnish, the main verb in a negative sentence takes the "connegative" form, which means it drops its personal ending. Normally it is te ajattelette (you think), but with the negative verb ette, it becomes ette ajattele.
The word naurettava (ridiculous) looks like the verb nauraa (to laugh). Are they connected?
Yes! The ending -ttava/-ttävä can be added to verbs to create an adjective describing something that causes that action. Just like in English where something that makes you laugh is "laughable", in Finnish nauraa becomes naurettava (ridiculous or laughable).
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