Breakdown of Tasavalta olisi puolustanut liittolaisia.
olla
to be
liittolainen
ally
tasavalta
republic
puolustaa
to defend
Questions & Answers about Tasavalta olisi puolustanut liittolaisia.
How do we form the "would have defended" structure in this sentence?
This is the conditional perfect. You form it by using the conditional form of the helper verb olla (here, olisi for the third-person singular) and the past participle of the main verb, puolustanut.
Why is the object liittolaisia in the partitive case?
The verb puolustaa (to defend) is a partitive verb. This means its object must always be in the partitive case, even if the action is complete or directed at a whole group. Here, liittolaisia is the partitive plural of liittolainen.
How does the base word liittolainen (ally) change into the partitive plural liittolaisia?
Words ending in -nen change their ending to -se- before adding case endings. The plural marker is -i-, and the partitive ending is -a. So, the stem liittolaise- drops its final -e- before the plural -i-, giving us liittolaisia.
I recognize valta (power) in tasavalta. What does the first part mean?
Tasavalta literally translates to "even power" or "equal power." It combines tasa (even, equal, flat) and valta (power, authority), and is the standard Finnish word for a republic.