Breakdown of Professori huomasi hakijan läpäisseen pääsykokeen.
huomata
to notice
professori
the professor
läpäistä
to pass
hakija
applicant
Questions & Answers about Professori huomasi hakijan läpäisseen pääsykokeen.
How does hakijan läpäisseen translate to "that the applicant had passed"?
This uses the past active referative construction (often called the partisiippirakenne), which replaces an että (that) clause. Instead of saying Professori huomasi, että hakija oli läpäissyt..., you put the subject of the second clause (hakija) into the genitive (hakijan) and use the past active participle of the verb with an -n ending (läpäisseen).
How is the participle läpäisseen formed from the base verb?
The base verb is läpäistä (to pass). First, find the standard past active participle used in perfect tenses: läpäissyt. To put this into the referative construction, the -nut/-nyt/-sut/-syt ending changes to -nee-, and you add the genitive -n at the end. Thus, läpäissyt becomes läpäisseen.
Why is pääsykokeen (the entrance exam) in the genitive-looking accusative case?
It is the direct object of the verb läpäistä. Even though läpäisseen is a participle used in a special construction, it still takes an object just like a normal verb. Because the action was successfully completed, the total object pääsykoe takes the standard accusative ending -n.
Does the main verb huomata (to notice) force us to use this construction?