Breakdown of Taapero rikkoi lautasen potkien.
lautanen
the plate
rikkoa
to break
taapero
toddler
potkia
to kick
Questions & Answers about Taapero rikkoi lautasen potkien.
What exactly does the -en ending on potkien tell us here?
This is the second infinitive instructive. It describes how or in what manner the main action was done. It shows that the toddler didn't just break the plate while kicking; they broke the plate by kicking it.
How do we build the form potkien from the dictionary verb?
The base verb is potkia (to kick). To form the second infinitive, you replace the final -a or -ä of the dictionary form with -e to get the stem potkie-, and then add the instructive ending -n. This gives us potkien.
Why is the object lautasen in the genitive case instead of the partitive?
Because the action was fully completed to a single, whole object. Rikkoa (to break) is a resultative verb. If the sentence used the partitive case (Taapero rikkoi lautasta), it would mean the toddler was in the process of breaking the plate, or that the result was not fully achieved yet.
Is the verb rikkoi related to the common word rikki (broken)?
Yes! Rikkoa is the active verb meaning to break something, appearing here in the past tense as rikkoi. Rikki is a related word used to describe the state of being already broken, like in the phrase lautanen on rikki (the plate is broken).
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