Breakdown of Hän kertoi totuuden pelkäämättä mitään.
hän
he / she
kertoa
to tell
mikään
anything, nothing (with negation)
pelätä
to fear
totuus
truth
Questions & Answers about Hän kertoi totuuden pelkäämättä mitään.
How do we get the form pelkäämättä from the verb pelätä?
This is the third infinitive abessive form, which translates to without doing something. To build it, take the strong vowel stem of the verb, which you can find in the minä form (pelkään), and add the ending -mättä.
Why does pelkäämättä have a k when the basic verb pelätä does not?
Pelätä is a Type 4 verb. These verbs have a weak consonant grade in their dictionary form, but take the strong grade in most other forms. That is why the k appears when building the stem pelkää-.
Why is mitään used here instead of a word like jotain?
The ending -mättä has a negative meaning (without). Because this part of the sentence acts like a negative statement, it triggers the use of the negative word mitään (anything) rather than the positive jotain (something).
Why does totuuden have an -n ending?
Totuuden is the direct object of the verb kertoi. Because the action is complete (he told the whole truth), it is a total object and takes the genitive -n ending.
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