Breakdown of Keskustassa vähennettäisiin liikennettä ja rakennettaisiin uusi aukio.
ja
and
uusi
new
keskusta
the city center
rakentaa
to build
vähentää
to reduce
aukio
square
liikenne
traffic
Questions & Answers about Keskustassa vähennettäisiin liikennettä ja rakennettaisiin uusi aukio.
How do we build the passive conditional forms vähennettäisiin and rakennettaisiin?
To form the passive conditional, you can start with the present passive form (like vähennetään or rakennetaan). You drop the final -än or -an, and replace it with the conditional endings -äisiin or -aisiin.
Both liikennettä and uusi aukio are objects in this sentence. Why is one in the partitive case and the other in the nominative?
In a passive sentence, a total object takes the nominative case instead of the genitive. Building uusi aukio (a new square) is a complete action with a finished result, so it takes the nominative. However, reducing traffic is an ongoing, open-ended action, so liikennettä must be in the partitive case.
Why do both verbs have a double N (-nn-) here when their dictionary forms are vähentää and rakentaa?
For verb type 1, the passive is built using the weak grade of the consonant. The strong -nt- in the dictionary forms undergoes consonant gradation and weakens to -nn- before adding the passive endings.
Does this sentence imply that a specific person is doing these things?
No. Finnish uses the passive to describe actions where the doer is unknown, unimportant, or a general group (like city planners or the government in this context). It could also be translated using an impersonal 'they': 'They would reduce traffic and build a new square'.
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