Breakdown of Tiedämme matkustamon olevan tyhjä.
olla
to be
tietää
to know
tyhjä
empty
matkustamo
cabin (in a vehicle)
Questions & Answers about Tiedämme matkustamon olevan tyhjä.
How does this sentence express "that the cabin is" without using the word "että"?
This sentence uses the referative construction (partisiippirakenne) to replace an että clause. Instead of saying Tiedämme, että matkustamo on tyhjä, the verb olla (to be) is changed into its present participle form olevan, and the word että is dropped entirely.
Why is the word for cabin (matkustamo) in the genitive case (matkustamon)?
In this construction, the subject of the embedded clause (the thing doing the action or being described in the "that" phrase) must be put into the genitive case. Since the cabin is the thing that is empty, matkustamo becomes matkustamon.
How is the participle olevan formed here?
The present active referative marker is -van (or -vän depending on vowel harmony). You form it by taking the strong inflectional stem of the verb—which for olla is ole-—and adding -van.
Why does the adjective tyhjä (empty) stay in the basic nominative case instead of matching matkustamon?