Breakdown of Kun katsot kiikareilla, voit tarkkailla hirveä.
katsoa
to watch
voida
can, to be able to
kun
when (conjunction)
tarkkailla
to observe
kiikari
binoculars
hirvi
moose
Questions & Answers about Kun katsot kiikareilla, voit tarkkailla hirveä.
Why is the moose in the partitive case (hirveä) here?
The verb tarkkailla (to observe or monitor) expresses a continuous, ongoing action without a definite end point. In Finnish, verbs of continuous action require their object to be in the partitive case.
Wait, doesn't hirveä mean 'terrible'?
It does! Hirveä is the basic (nominative) form of the adjective meaning 'terrible' or 'awful'. However, here it happens to look exactly like the partitive form of the noun hirvi (moose). You have to rely on context to know whether you are looking at a moose or something terrible.
Why is 'with binoculars' translated as kiikareilla?
In Finnish, the adessive case (-lla/-llä) is used to express the instrument or tool you use to accomplish something. Instead of a separate word for 'with', kiikareilla literally means 'by means of binoculars'.
Is kiikarit (binoculars) a plural word in Finnish, just like in English?
Yes, a single pair of binoculars is treated as a plural word in Finnish. That is why the adessive ending is attached to the plural stem (kiikarei-), giving us kiikareilla rather than the singular kiikarilla.
Since this lesson is about the active present participle (-va/-vä), why isn't it used for 'observe' here?
In this sentence, 'observe' is simply the action you perform, so it takes the basic infinitive form tarkkailla after the auxiliary verb voit (you can). You would use the -va participle if you wanted to turn the verb into an adjective. For example, tarkkaileva hirvi would mean 'an observing moose' (a moose that is actively watching you).
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