Breakdown of Kaikki, mitä temppu vaatii, on yksi valkoinen jänis.
olla
to be
yksi
one
valkoinen
white
kaikki
all, everything, everyone
vaatia
to claim (demand)
mikä
which (relative pronoun)
temppu
trick
jänis
rabbit
Questions & Answers about Kaikki, mitä temppu vaatii, on yksi valkoinen jänis.
Why do we use mitä here instead of jota?
When a relative pronoun refers back to an indefinite pronoun like kaikki (everything), Finnish uses the mikä family of words. You use joka when referring back to a specific noun, but for words like kaikki or when referring to a whole previous sentence, you must use mikä (or its forms like mitä).
Why is it in the partitive case (mitä) instead of the basic form (mikä)?
The case of a relative pronoun depends on its role inside its own clause. Here, the verb vaatia (to require) needs a partitive object. Because the trick requires "it", the pronoun acts as that object and must be in the partitive form mitä.
Why are there commas around mitä temppu vaatii?
In Finnish, a relative clause must always be separated from the rest of the sentence with commas. The main sentence here is Kaikki on yksi valkoinen jänis. The relative clause interrupts it to add information about the word kaikki, so it needs a comma on both sides.
Why is yksi valkoinen jänis in the basic nominative case?
While the verb olla (to be) sometimes uses the partitive for its complement, that only happens with uncountable things like liquids or abstract concepts. A rabbit (jänis) is a specific, countable thing, so it stays in the nominative case.
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