Breakdown of Kaikki näkivät kandidaatin kampuksella.
nähdä
to see
kaikki
all, everything, everyone
kandidaatti
bachelor
kampus
campus
Questions & Answers about Kaikki näkivät kandidaatin kampuksella.
Why is the verb näkivät in the plural form?
In Finnish, the pronoun kaikki (everyone or all) behaves as a plural word when referring to people. Therefore, the verb must match it in the plural form: kaikki näkivät (everyone saw). This is different from English, where the word everyone takes a singular verb.
Why is kandidaatin in the genitive case?
Here, kandidaatin is the object of the sentence. Because the action is complete (they successfully saw him), the sentence is affirmative, and there is a normal subject (kaikki), the total object takes the genitive-accusative ending -n. If the sentence were negative, it would be in the partitive: Kaikki eivät nähneet kandidaattia.
Why do we use kampuksella instead of kampuksessa for the phrase on the campus?
In Finnish, open spaces and public areas often take the outer local cases (the -lla or -llä endings). Because a campus is traditionally thought of as an open area or grounds rather than a single enclosed building, Finnish uses kampuksella.
How could I use the past referative construction from this lesson with this sentence?
If you wanted to say everyone saw that the bachelor had been on campus, you would use the past active referative construction. The sentence would become: Kaikki näkivät kandidaatin olleen kampuksella. Notice how kandidaatin is still in the genitive case, but now it acts as the subject for the participle olleen.
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