Questions & Answers about Jos presidentti olisi vastannut, me olisimme estäneet sodan.
Why does Finnish use olisi vastannut (would have answered) in the 'if' clause, instead of a past perfect tense like in English?
In English, we say 'If the president had answered', but Finnish is more strictly logical about hypothetical situations. Because the 'if' clause is a hypothetical condition about the past, it uses the conditional perfect. Finnish uses the conditional mood in both halves of the sentence: Jos... olisi vastannut (If... would have answered) and ...olisimme estäneet (...we would have prevented).
Why does the main verb in the first part end in -nut (vastannut) but the second part ends in -neet (estäneet)?
The past participle (the main action verb used in perfect tenses) always has to match the subject in number. Presidentti is singular, so it takes the singular ending -nut (vastannut). Me (we) is plural, so it takes the plural ending -neet (estäneet).
How is the form vastannut made from the dictionary verb vastata (to answer)?
Vastata is a Type 4 verb. To form the past participle for this specific verb group, you drop the final -a or -ä from the infinitive and add -nnut or -nnyt. This gives us vastannut.
Why is 'the war' translated as sodan instead of the basic form or the partitive ?