Breakdown of Mies ajoi koko päivän pitämättä taukoa.
mies
man
päivä
day
ajaa
to drive
koko
whole
pitää
to hold / take (a break)
tauko
break
Questions & Answers about Mies ajoi koko päivän pitämättä taukoa.
How does pitämättä mean "without taking"?
Pitämättä is the third infinitive abessive form of the verb pitää (to keep / to hold). The -matta / -mättä ending translates to "without doing" an action. You form it by taking the strong stem of the verb (pitä-) and adding the ending.
Why is the verb pitää used here instead of a verb for "to take"?
In Finnish, you don't "take" a break (ottaa taukoa). Instead, you "keep" or "hold" a break. The natural Finnish phrase is pitää taukoa (to take a break).
Why is taukoa in the partitive case here?
Because the action is negative! The -mättä form means "without doing", which acts like a negative verb. In Finnish, objects of negative actions must be in the partitive case, so the basic word tauko becomes taukoa.
Why does it say koko päivän and not just koko päivä?
When you express doing an action for an entire, unbroken block of time (like "all day"), the time word takes the -n ending (the accusative case). So koko päivä (the whole day) becomes koko päivän to show exactly how long the driving lasted.
Learn Mies ajoi koko päivän pitämättä taukoa and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free