Hän ei lakannut kiroilemasta, joten minun täytyi lähteä.
He did not stop swearing, so I had to leave.
Breakdown of Hän ei lakannut kiroilemasta, joten minun täytyi lähteä.
minä
I
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
lähteä
to leave
täytyä
to have to
lakata
to stop
joten
so, therefore
kiroilla
to swear
Questions & Answers about Hän ei lakannut kiroilemasta, joten minun täytyi lähteä.
Why is the word for swearing kiroilemasta instead of just the basic infinitive kiroilla?
The verb lakata (to stop or cease) has a specific rule, known as verb rection. It requires the action that is stopping to be in the 3rd infinitive elative form, which ends in -masta or -mästä. You can think of it literally as someone stopping from doing an action.
How do you build the form kiroilemasta from the dictionary form kiroilla?
Kiroilla is a type 3 verb. To make the 3rd infinitive, you first find the vowel stem by removing the infinitive ending -la and adding an -e-, giving you kiroile-. Then you add the 3rd infinitive marker -ma- and finally the elative case ending -sta, resulting in kiroilemasta.
Why is the negative past tense ei lakannut rather than just a conjugated past tense word?
To say that someone didn't do something in the past tense, Finnish uses the negative verb (ei) followed by the past participle (the -nut/-nyt form) of the main verb. Because lakata is a type 4 verb, its past participle form is lakannut.
Why is "I had to" translated as minun täytyi instead of using the basic subject minä?
This sentence uses a necessity structure. When using necessity verbs like täytyy (to have to), the person who must do the action is always put in the genitive case, which turns minä into minun. The verb itself always stays in the 3rd person singular, which in the past tense is täytyi.
Learn Hän ei lakannut kiroilemasta, joten minun täytyi lähteä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free