Questions & Answers about Uni on välttämätöntä.
Why is välttämätöntä in the partitive case here instead of the nominative välttämätön?
How is the partitive form välttämätöntä formed from the base word välttämätön?
Adjectives ending in the negative suffix -ton or -tön (meaning 'without' or 'un-') have a special stem. To make the partitive, the ending changes to -ntä or -nta. Therefore, välttämätön becomes välttämätöntä.
If the sentence were about a specific countable thing, like a car, would the adjective still be in the partitive?
No. If you were describing a specific, countable, singular noun, you would use the nominative. For example, Auto on välttämätön (The car is necessary). The partitive is only used here because uni is an uncountable, abstract concept.
Why is the subject uni in the nominative case? Doesn't the partitive rule apply to both words?
The rule for abstract or mass nouns only affects the describing adjective after the verb (the subject complement). The subject itself, uni, remains in the basic nominative form when making a general descriptive statement like this.
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