Breakdown of Lapsi ei pilannut kakkua ehdoin tahdoin.
ei
no / not (negative verb)
lapsi
child
kakku
cake
pilata
to ruin
ehto
the condition / the term
tahto
will
Questions & Answers about Lapsi ei pilannut kakkua ehdoin tahdoin.
How does the phrase ehdoin tahdoin use the instructive case?
This phrase is a common idiom meaning "deliberately" or "on purpose." It is made up of the nouns ehto (condition) and tahto (will) put into the instructive plural case, which is marked by the -in ending. Literally, it means something like "with conditions and wills."
Why is the object kakkua in the partitive case here?
In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence must always be in the partitive case. Because the sentence says the child "did not ruin" the cake (ei pilannut), the basic form kakku becomes kakkua.
Why is the verb form pilannut used here instead of the regular past tense pilasi?
Because this is a negative sentence in the past tense. To say someone "did not do" something, you use the conjugated negative verb (ei) followed by the past participle of the main verb. Since pilata (to ruin) is a type 4 verb, its past participle is pilannut.
Do ehdoin and tahdoin always have to be used together?
They almost always appear together as this specific fixed pair to mean "deliberately." The instructive case is largely restricted to fixed expressions today, though you will occasionally see ehdoin in other idioms like millä ehdoin (on what terms).
Learn Lapsi ei pilannut kakkua ehdoin tahdoin and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free