Breakdown of Tuomari antoi rangaistuksen, sillä mies oli syyllinen.
olla
to be
mies
man
antaa
to give
syyllinen
guilty
Questions & Answers about Tuomari antoi rangaistuksen, sillä mies oli syyllinen.
What is the difference between using sillä and koska in this sentence?
Both translate to "because", but sillä works more like the English word "for". It is a coordinating conjunction, and it sounds a bit more formal or literary than koska, which is the standard choice in everyday spoken Finnish.
Could we flip the sentence and start with the reason? For example: Sillä mies oli syyllinen, tuomari antoi rangaistuksen.
No, you cannot. Because sillä is a coordinating conjunction, it must always sit between the two clauses it connects, just like the English word "and" or "but". If you want to put the reason first, you have to use koska: Koska mies oli syyllinen, tuomari...
Why is the object rangaistuksen in the genitive case (ending in -n) instead of the partitive rangaistusta?
It is acting as a total object (also called the genitive-accusative). This shows that the action was fully completed—the judge gave a specific, whole punishment. If the sentence were negative (the judge didn't give a punishment), you would have to use the partitive: Tuomari ei antanut rangaistusta.
How is the adjective syyllinen (guilty) formed?