Breakdown of Asiantuntija pitää ongelmaa uhkana.
ongelma
problem
asiantuntija
expert
pitää
to consider (as)
uhka
threat
Questions & Answers about Asiantuntija pitää ongelmaa uhkana.
I thought pitää meant "to like" or "to have to". Why does it translate to "considers" here?
The verb pitää is very versatile and changes meaning depending on the cases used around it. While pitää + the elative case means "to like", this sentence uses the pattern pitää + partitive + essive. This specific structure always means "to consider [something] as [something]".
Why is the word ongelma in the partitive case (ongelmaa)?
In this specific opinion structure, the thing or person you are evaluating acts as the object and must be in the partitive case. Because the expert is forming an opinion about the problem, ongelma takes the partitive ending to become ongelmaa.
What is the -na ending on uhkana?
It is the essive case ending. The essive case expresses a role or a state, often translating to "as" in English. Here, uhka (threat) becomes uhkana (as a threat) to complete the expert's opinion.
Can you break down the vocabulary in asiantuntija?
It is a compound word made of two parts. The first half is asian, which is the genitive form of asia (matter or thing). The second half is tuntija (knower), derived from the verb tuntea (to know). Literally, an expert is a "knower of the matter".
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