Breakdown of Nämä muinaiset löydöt oli tehty kaivauksissa.
tämä
this
olla
to be
tehdä
to do
muinainen
ancient
löytö
the discovery
kaivaus
the excavation
Questions & Answers about Nämä muinaiset löydöt oli tehty kaivauksissa.
Why is the auxiliary verb oli singular when the discoveries (löydöt) are plural? Shouldn't it be olivat tehty?
In Finnish passive sentences, there is no grammatical subject. Even though Nämä muinaiset löydöt translates as the subject in English, in Finnish it is actually the object of the action. Because passive verbs don't have a true subject, the auxiliary verb always stays in the third-person singular form (oli).
What exactly is the verb form tehty?
Tehty is the passive past participle of the verb tehdä (to do/make). When you combine the past tense auxiliary oli with this passive participle, you get the pluperfect passive tense, which translates to "had been made".
Why is Nämä muinaiset löydöt in the nominative case instead of the partitive?
In passive sentences, a total object (where the action is completely finished) takes the nominative case when it is plural. Because the discoveries had already been completely made, the plural nominative (ending in -t) is used. If the action were ongoing or incomplete, the partitive plural would be used instead.
Is the noun löydöt related to the verb löytää?
Yes! The verb löytää means "to find". By modifying the stem, we get the noun löytö, meaning "a find" or "a discovery". Here it has the plural ending -t, with consonant gradation changing the strong t to a weak d (löytö becomes löydöt).
How is the word kaivauksissa formed?
It originates from the verb kaivaa (to dig), which gives us the noun kaivaus (an excavation). Here it is in the plural inessive case (-issa), meaning "in the excavations". Notice how the word changes from its basic form kaivaus to the stem kaivauksi- before the ending is attached.
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