Learn Finnish: Hän taitaa ansaita hyvin.

This lesson teaches obligation verbs like pitää and kannattaa, which require a genitive subject (like hänen). However, taitaa is a regular verb, so it takes a basic nominative subject (hän). It still pairs with an infinitive, but it does not change the subject to the genitive case.

Taitaa is translated as "probably", but is it actually a verb?

Yes, taitaa is a verb! While English uses an adverb like "probably", Finnish often expresses this idea with the verb taitaa followed by the dictionary form of the main action. It means something like "to probably do" or "to seem to do".

Why doesn't the verb ansaita change to match hän?

When you link two verbs together in this way, the first verb takes the conjugation and the second verb stays in the 1st infinitive (the dictionary form). Because taitaa is already conjugated for hän, ansaita stays in its basic form.

Is hyvin related to the word hyvä?

Yes, hyvin is the adverb form meaning "well", which comes from the adjective hyvä (good). Just like in English, you use the adverb to describe how the action (ansaita) is done, rather than using an adjective.