Breakdown of Hän ei ollut ilmoittautunut kurssille kertaakaan.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
kurssi
course
ilmoittautua
to register
kertaakaan
not even once
Questions & Answers about Hän ei ollut ilmoittautunut kurssille kertaakaan.
Why are there two past participles (ollut and ilmoittautunut) in this sentence?
This is how the negative pluperfect (had not done) is formed in Finnish. It requires the negative verb (ei), followed by the past participle of the verb olla (ollut), and finally the past participle of the main verb (ilmoittautunut).
What would this look like if the subject were plural, like "They had not registered"?
It would be He eivät olleet ilmoittautuneet. The negative verb changes to eivät, and importantly, both past participles must take the plural -t ending because the subject is plural.
Why is kurssi in the allative case (kurssille) instead of the illative?
The verb ilmoittautua (to register) normally requires the illative ("into") case. However, kurssi is one of those specific words that traditionally pairs with the external locative cases (like the allative -lle, "onto") when talking about going to or attending it.
How does the word kertaakaan break down to mean "even once"?
The base word is kerta (time or occasion). Here it is in the partitive case (kertaa) with the clitic -kaan attached. In a negative sentence, -kaan translates to "even". Together with the negative verb, it means "not even once" or "not a single time."
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