Breakdown of Emme ole nähneet toisiamme iäisyyteen.
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
nähdä
to see
toinen
other, another; second
iäisyys
the eternity
Questions & Answers about Emme ole nähneet toisiamme iäisyyteen.
Why does "for an eternity" translate using the illative case (iäisyyteen)?
This is exactly what this lesson is about! When expressing how long something has not happened in a negative sentence, Finnish uses the illative case. While a positive sentence usually uses the accusative or partitive to show duration, negative sentences use the illative (the "into" case) to mean "for" or "in" a period of time.
Why is the object toisiamme in the partitive case?
Toisiamme translates to "each other" and is the object of the verb nähdä (to see). Because this is a negative sentence (emme ole nähneet), the object must be in the partitive case. The base word is toinen, its partitive plural is toisia, and the -mme on the end is the possessive suffix for "our".
Why is the main verb written as nähneet rather than nähnyt?
The sentence is in the negative perfect tense, which uses the negative verb (emme) plus the past participle of the main verb. Because the subject is plural ("we"), the participle must also take its plural form. Therefore, the singular nähnyt becomes the plural nähneet.
What is the base form of iäisyyteen and how is this form built?
The dictionary form is iäisyys (eternity). For nouns ending in -uus or -yys, the stem is formed by changing the final -s to -te-. This gives us the stem iäisyyte-. Finally, we add the illative ending (-en), which makes it iäisyyteen.
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