Breakdown of Miksi naapurit kyselevät meiltä näitä asioita?
tämä
this
me
we
miksi
why
naapuri
neighbor
asia
thing, matter
kysellä
to ask around, to keep asking
Questions & Answers about Miksi naapurit kyselevät meiltä näitä asioita?
What is the base verb for kyselevät and how does the frequentative suffix change its meaning here?
The base verb is kysyä (to ask). By adding the frequentative suffix -ellä, it becomes kysellä, which implies asking repeatedly, casually, or asking many things. In this sentence, it gives the feeling that the neighbors are prying or keeping on asking rather than just asking a single question once.
When forming kysellä, why does the final y from kysyä disappear?
When adding the -ella or -ellä suffix to a two-syllable verb ending in a vowel, the final vowel of the root often drops. The root of kysyä is kysy-. When we add -ellä, the final y is dropped to make it flow better, resulting in kysellä.
Why does the sentence use meiltä (from us) instead of an object case like meitä?
In English you ask someone, but in Finnish you always ask from someone. Both the base verb kysyä and its frequentative form kysellä require the person being asked to be in the ablative case (-lta / -ltä).
Why is näitä asioita (these things) in the partitive case?
Näitä asioita is the plural partitive form of tämä asia. We use the partitive case for the object here because the action of asking around (kysellä) is an ongoing, continuous process, not a completed single action.
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