Breakdown of En ollut huomannut, että he eivät olleet ilmoittautuneet.
olla
to be
he
they
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
että
that (conjunction)
huomata
to notice
ilmoittautua
to register
Questions & Answers about En ollut huomannut, että he eivät olleet ilmoittautuneet.
How does the negative pluperfect structure work in "en ollut huomannut"?
To say you "had not done" something, you combine three parts. First is the negative verb matching the subject, like en. Second is the past participle of olla, which is ollut for a singular subject. Third is the past participle of your main verb, which is huomannut here.
Why do the verbs for "they had not registered" end in "-eet" instead of "-ut"?
Because the subject he (they) is plural. In plural forms, both the past participle of the helper verb olla and the main verb must take the plural ending. So ollut becomes olleet, and ilmoittautunut becomes ilmoittautuneet.
I recognize ilmoittaa (to inform) inside ilmoittautuneet. How are they related?
The verb ilmoittautua is a reflexive version of ilmoittaa. While ilmoittaa means to inform or report something, the -utua ending often indicates doing an action to yourself. Therefore, ilmoittautua literally means to report yourself, which translates as registering or signing up.
Could I skip the word että here like we often skip "that" in English?
No, in Finnish you cannot skip the conjunction että when connecting two clauses like this. Even though English speakers often say "I hadn't noticed they hadn't registered," Finnish strictly requires the että to bridge the two parts.
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