Breakdown of Hän pelasti lapsen hengen.
hän
he / she
lapsi
child
pelastaa
to save, to rescue
henki
spirit, soul
Questions & Answers about Hän pelasti lapsen hengen.
Since this lesson is about the perfect tense, how would we say 'He has saved the child's life'?
To form the perfect tense, we use the correct form of the verb olla (to be) and the past participle of the main verb. It becomes Hän on pelastanut lapsen hengen. The sentence shown here is actually in the simple past tense (pelasti).
Both lapsen and hengen end in -n. Do they have the same grammatical function here?
No, they do different jobs despite looking similar. Lapsen is in the genitive case to show possession (the child's). Hengen is the object of the sentence. Because the action of saving was totally completed, the object takes the -n ending.
What is the dictionary form of hengen, and why does the spelling change so much?
The dictionary form is henki, which can mean life, spirit, or breath. When we add the -n ending, it triggers consonant gradation. The strong nk changes to the weak ng, making the word hengen.
How do you form the simple past tense pelasti from its dictionary form?
The dictionary form is pelastaa (to save). To make the simple past tense (imperfect) for a verb ending in -aa, the final -a changes to an -i, resulting in pelasti (he or she saved).