Breakdown of Se menis vuoristorataan, vaikka sitä pelottaa.
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
mennä
to go
vaikka
although / even though
pelottaa
to scare
vuoristorata
rollercoaster
Questions & Answers about Se menis vuoristorataan, vaikka sitä pelottaa.
How does the causative verb pelottaa connect to its root verb?
Why is the pronoun sitä in the partitive case, and where is the subject in vaikka sitä pelottaa?
Causative emotion verbs like pelottaa often appear in subjectless sentences. The person experiencing the emotion is the object of the verb and must be in the partitive case. Here, sitä is the partitive form of the spoken pronoun se (he/she). The literal structure feels a bit like saying even though [it] frightens him.
Why is the conditional verb written as menis instead of the standard menisi?
Menis is the common spoken language version of the conditional menisi (would go). In casual speech, Finns frequently drop the final -i from the conditional marker. You can also spot the spoken Finnish style in the first word, where se is used for a person instead of the written standard hän.
Why do we use the illative case vuoristorataan instead of a case that means going on the rollercoaster?
While English speakers talk about going on a rollercoaster, Finnish treats many vehicles and amusement park rides as structures you enter. Because you are getting inside the ride's structure or car, Finnish requires the illative case ending -an to express going into the rollercoaster.
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