Breakdown of Tajusin nopeasti, että vanhempi puhelin oli hajonnut.
olla
to be
vanha
old
nopeasti
fast
puhelin
phone
että
that (conjunction)
tajuta
to realize
hajota
to break down
Questions & Answers about Tajusin nopeasti, että vanhempi puhelin oli hajonnut.
How does the pluperfect tense work in the phrase oli hajonnut?
The pluperfect tense describes an action that happened before another past event. In this sentence, the phone broke down before you realized it. It is formed by combining the past tense (imperfect) of the auxiliary verb olla (here, oli because the phone is an "it") with the past participle (the NUT-participle) of the main verb, which is hajonnut.
Why does the participle hajonnut have a double N?
The main verb is hajota (to break down), which is a Type 4 verb. For verb types 4, 5, and 6, you form the past participle by dropping the infinitive's final -ta or -tä and replacing it with -nnut or -nnyt. This rule gives us the double N in hajonnut.
What is the dictionary form of tajusin, and how do you find its past tense stem?
The dictionary form is tajuta (to realize). Because it is also a Type 4 verb, its past tense (imperfect) is formed by taking the stem taju- and adding the past tense marker -si-, followed by the personal "I" ending -n, giving us tajusin.
What form is the word vanhempi?
It is the comparative form of the adjective vanha (old), meaning "older". Just like a normal adjective, a comparative adjective must match the case of the noun it describes. Because puhelin (phone) is in the basic nominative case here as the subject of its clause, vanhempi stays in the nominative case as well.
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