Breakdown of Koska he ikävöivät toisiaan, he eivät vain kättele.
he
they
koska
because
ei
no / not (negative verb)
vain
only
toisiaan
each other (also toisiamme, toisianne)
ikävöidä
to miss
kätellä
to shake hands
Questions & Answers about Koska he ikävöivät toisiaan, he eivät vain kättele.
Why does "each other" translate to toisiaan here instead of toinen toistaan?
When saying "each other" in Finnish, you can either use the repeated singular phrase (toinen toistaan) or just the plural form of toinen with a possessive suffix attached. Here, toisiaan is the plural partitive (toisia) plus the third-person possessive suffix (-an). This one-word plural form is very common in everyday Finnish!
Why is toisiaan in the partitive case?
The verb ikävöidä (to miss) is a partitive verb. It always requires the person or thing you are missing to be in the partitive case. So, instead of the basic plural form, we use the plural partitive toisia before adding the -an suffix to make toisiaan.
Why doesn't the second verb match "they" and say kättelevät?
Because of the negative verb eivät. In negative sentences, the main verb drops its personal ending. For "they don't shake hands," you use eivät plus the negative stem of the verb, which is kättele.
What kind of verb is kätellä?
The dictionary form is kätellä (to shake hands). It is a Type 3 verb, which typically ends in two consonants and a vowel (like opiskella or ajatella). To get the negative stem used after eivät, you remove the final -lä and add -le, giving you kättele.
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