Word
Luulin häntä neroksi, mutta nyt tiedän, että hän on huijari.
Meaning
I thought he was a genius, but I know now that he is a swindler.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Luulin häntä neroksi, mutta nyt tiedän, että hän on huijari.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
mutta
but
nyt
now
Questions & Answers about Luulin häntä neroksi, mutta nyt tiedän, että hän on huijari.
Why does the sentence say häntä neroksi instead of just using an että clause like luulin, että hän on nero?
While you can say luulin, että hän on nero, Finnish frequently uses this more compact structure with verbs of assumption. When using luulla (to assume/think), the person you are making an assumption about takes the partitive case (häntä), and what you assume them to be takes the translative case (neroksi).
Since nero (genius) takes the translative ending (neroksi), why is huijari (swindler) just in its basic nominative form?
The translative case is strictly triggered by the special structure following luulin in the first clause. The second half of the sentence (että hän on huijari) is just a standard "A is B" clause. Because it simply uses the verb olla (to be) rather than an opinion verb, huijari stays in the basic nominative form.
The lesson also covers pitää. Could I use pitää instead of luulla in this sentence?
Yes, but the grammar and the nuance would change. Luulla specifically implies a guess or an assumption, which is often wrong—perfect for a sentence about being tricked. If you used pitää (to hold an opinion), the structure requires the essive case instead of the translative: Pidin häntä nerona (I considered him a genius).
Why use for "to think" here instead of ?