Breakdown of Kaivauksissa oli tehty tärkeä löytö.
olla
to be
tehdä
to do
tärkeä
important
löytö
the discovery
kaivaus
the excavation
Questions & Answers about Kaivauksissa oli tehty tärkeä löytö.
How is the pluperfect passive formed in oli tehty?
It is made up of oli (the third-person singular past tense of the verb to be) and tehty (the passive past participle of tehdä, to make or do). Just like with the perfect passive, the auxiliary verb is always in the singular third-person form.
Why is the object tärkeä löytö in the nominative case here instead of the genitive?
In a passive sentence, a whole or complete object is put into the nominative case. If the sentence were active, like someone had made the discovery, it would use the genitive-like accusative form tärkeän löydön.
Why does the sentence start with Kaivauksissa instead of the object?
Passive sentences in Finnish often begin with a place or time expression to set the scene. Starting with Kaivauksissa (in the excavations) is a very natural word order, leaving the main point of interest, tärkeä löytö, at the end of the sentence.
What is the root word of Kaivauksissa?
The base noun is kaivaus, meaning an excavation or dig, which itself comes from the verb kaivaa (to dig). Here it is in the plural inessive case to mean inside the excavations.
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