Word
He eivät olleet yhteensopivia, joten nainen torjui miehen.
Meaning
They were not compatible, so the woman rejected the man.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of He eivät olleet yhteensopivia, joten nainen torjui miehen.
olla
to be
he
they
mies
man
nainen
woman
Questions & Answers about He eivät olleet yhteensopivia, joten nainen torjui miehen.
Why is the verb form olleet instead of ollut?
In the negative past tense, the main verb uses the past participle form. While singular subjects use ollut, plural subjects like he (they) require the plural participle ending in -leet (or -neet for other verbs). Therefore, we use eivät olleet.
Why is yhteensopivia in the partitive plural form?
It is a predicative adjective describing the plural subject he. When describing a plural subject in Finnish (saying 'they are X'), the adjective must be in the partitive plural. The base form is the compound word yhteensopiva (yhteen + sopiva, literally 'together fitting').
Why does mies take the form miehen at the end of the sentence?
It is the total object of the verb torjui (rejected). Because the woman's action of rejecting him is complete and the clause is affirmative, the object takes the genitive-accusative ending -n.
How would you rewrite the first half of the sentence to say 'Neither of them was compatible' using the current lesson's word kumpikaan?