Breakdown of Tämä on huuto, jota meklari ei kuule.
tämä
this
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
kuulla
to hear
Questions & Answers about Tämä on huuto, jota meklari ei kuule.
Why is the relative pronoun jota in the partitive case?
It refers back to huuto (the bid) and acts as the object of the verb kuulla (to hear). Because the sentence is negative (ei kuule), the object must take the partitive case. If it were a positive sentence ('that the auctioneer hears'), you would use the accusative form jonka.
Doesn't huuto usually mean a 'shout' or 'cry'?
Yes, the basic meaning of huuto is a shout. However, in the context of an auction, a bid is traditionally called out loud. This is also why the Finnish word for an auction is huutokauppa (literally 'shout shop').
Why is the verb kuule missing the extra vowel at the end? Shouldn't it be kuulee?
In Finnish negative sentences, the main verb drops its personal ending. While 'he or she hears' is kuulee, the negative form uses the negative verb ei followed by the raw verb stem kuule.
What exactly is a meklari?
Meklari means a broker, agent, or auctioneer. It is a loanword from the Swedish word 'mäklare' (broker). In this specific sentence about a bid (huuto), 'auctioneer' is the most natural English translation.