Breakdown of Lentäjä huomaa kiitoradan olevan märkä.
olla
to be
huomata
to notice
märkä
wet
lentäjä
pilot
kiitorata
runway
Questions & Answers about Lentäjä huomaa kiitoradan olevan märkä.
How does the referative construction work in this sentence instead of using an että (that) clause?
This sentence replaces the basic clause että kiitorata on märkä (that the runway is wet). In this structure, the subject of the second clause (kiitorata) is put into the genitive case (kiitoradan), and the verb (on) turns into the present active participle form ending in -van or -vän (olevan).
Why is märkä in the nominative case here instead of the genitive to match kiitoradan?
In the referative construction, only the subject of the action changes to the genitive case. Any describing adjective (like märkä) stays in exactly the same case it would have in a normal että clause. Since we would normally say kiitorata on märkä, the adjective remains in the nominative here too.
What are the parts of the compound word kiitoradan?
It comes from kiitorata (runway), which is made of kiito (acceleration or speed) and rata (track or path). Here, it takes the genitive ending (-n) because it acts as the subject of the olevan participle structure.
Do I always have to use this -van/-vän structure with verbs like huomata (to notice)?
No, it is just a more compact and slightly more formal alternative to using an että clause. Saying Lentäjä huomaa, että kiitorata on märkä is completely correct and very common in everyday spoken Finnish.
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