Breakdown of Eipä hän paljasta salaisuutta!
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (negative verb)
salaisuus
secret
paljastaa
to reveal
Questions & Answers about Eipä hän paljasta salaisuutta!
Why is the clitic -pä attached to the negative verb ei instead of the main verb?
The emphatic clitic -pa/-pä always attaches to the very first word of the clause. Since negative sentences start with the negative verb (here, ei), it receives the clitic to form eipä (she sure doesn't / indeed she doesn't).
Why does the clitic use an ä (-pä) instead of an a (-pa)?
This is due to vowel harmony. The word ei only contains neutral vowels (e and i). Words with only neutral vowels take front-vowel endings, so we must use -pä.
Why is the main verb paljasta instead of the dictionary form paljastaa?
Because this is a negative sentence, the main verb must be in the connegative form. For the verb paljastaa (to reveal), you take the 'I' form (paljastan) and drop the -n, leaving just paljasta.
Why is the word for secret, salaisuus, in the partitive case (salaisuutta)?
In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence must always be in the partitive case. Since the action of revealing is not happening, the object takes the partitive form salaisuutta.