Breakdown of Hän osti uuden auton katsomatta edes hintaa.
auto
car
hän
he / she
uusi
new
ostaa
to buy
katsoa
to watch
hinta
price
edes
even
Questions & Answers about Hän osti uuden auton katsomatta edes hintaa.
How do we get katsomatta from the verb katsoa (to look), and what does it mean?
Katsomatta means "without looking." It is in the third infinitive abessive form, which you use to say you did something "without doing" something else. To build it, take the strong stem of the verb (here, katso-) and add the ending -matta (or -mättä for words with front vowels like ä, ö, and y).
Why is hintaa (the price) in the partitive case here?
It is in the partitive because it is the object of the action katsomatta (without looking). Since the action of looking didn't actually happen, it counts as a negative action. Objects of negative actions must always be in the partitive case.
The word edes means "even". Is it always used in negative sentences?
Yes, edes is typically used in negative contexts, such as "I don't even know" (En edes tiedä). Even though this sentence has no negative verb like ei, the ending -matta carries a negative meaning ("without"), which makes it perfectly natural to use edes here.
Why is the car uuden auton instead of being in the partitive case like the price?
Uuden auton is the object of the main verb osti (bought). Buying a car is a completed, positive action, so the object takes the accusative case (which ends in -n and looks exactly like the genitive). Only the price is affected by the negative "without" action.
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