Breakdown of Väkivalta ei koskaan ratkaise ongelmaa.
ei
no / not (negative verb)
koskaan
never / ever
ongelma
problem
ratkaista
to solve (a problem, puzzle)
väkivalta
the violence
Questions & Answers about Väkivalta ei koskaan ratkaise ongelmaa.
Why is the object ongelmaa in the partitive case?
Because the sentence is negative (ei koskaan ratkaise). In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence is almost always in the partitive case. The basic nominative form of the word is ongelma.
What is the infinitive form of ratkaise?
The infinitive is ratkaista (to solve), which is a Type 3 verb. To find the negative form used in this sentence, you take the present tense 'minä' form (ratkaisen) and drop the -n, which gives you the connegative form ratkaise.
How would you say 'Violence never starts to solve the problem' using the verb alkaa?
You would say Väkivalta ei koskaan ala ratkaista ongelmaa. As taught in this lesson, the verb alkaa requires the following verb to be in its basic dictionary form (the first infinitive), which is ratkaista.
What if we wanted to express that same starting action using the verb ruveta instead?
You would say Väkivalta ei koskaan rupea ratkaisemaan ongelmaa. Unlike alkaa, the verb ruveta requires the third infinitive in the illative case (-maan or -mään). For the verb ratkaista, that form is ratkaisemaan.
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