Breakdown of Älkää silittäkö pentua, joka on vihainen.
olla
to be
vihainen
angry
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
älkää
do not (plural/formal)
pentu
the puppy
silittää
to pet / to stroke
Questions & Answers about Älkää silittäkö pentua, joka on vihainen.
Why is the verb form silittäkö instead of the basic imperative silittäkää?
In Finnish, negative commands require a specific structure. The negative verb älkää takes the plural ending, while the main verb takes the connegative ending -kö (or -ko). So instead of the positive command silittäkää (pet!), you must use älkää silittäkö (do not pet!).
Why is the word for puppy (pentua) in the partitive case?
There are two overlapping reasons here. First, the verb silittää (to pet or stroke) usually takes a partitive object because it is an ongoing action without a clear endpoint. Second, the sentence is a negative command (älkää), and objects in negative sentences must always be in the partitive case.
If pentua is partitive, why is the relative pronoun joka in the basic nominative case?
Even though joka (that/which) refers back to pentua, it belongs to its own separate clause (joka on vihainen). Inside that relative clause, joka acts as the subject. Since subjects are generally in the nominative case, joka takes its basic form regardless of what case the word it refers to has in the main sentence.
How would this sentence change if I were giving the command to just one person?
You would change the negative imperative from plural to singular. The plural älkää becomes the singular älä, and the main verb drops the -kö ending to become silitä. The new sentence would be: Älä silitä pentua, joka on vihainen.
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