Questions & Answers about Me yritämme estää häntä lyömästä muita.
Why is the verb for hitting in the -mästä form instead of the basic infinitive?
This is because of the verb estää (to prevent). Verbs of prevention and cessation require the next verb to be in the 3rd infinitive elative case (-masta / -mästä). In English, we say 'prevent from doing', and in Finnish, the -mästä ending acts like that 'from'.
Why is hän (he/she) in the partitive case (häntä) here?
The verb estää takes a partitive object for the person you are stopping. You aren't 'completing' an action on him, you are just directing the prevention at him, so hän becomes häntä.
Why is the word for 'others' (muita) also in the partitive case?
It is the object of the verb lyödä (to hit). Lyödä is a verb that usually requires a partitive object because the action of hitting doesn't 'consume' or finish the object. Muita is the partitive plural of muu (other).
How do the three verbs in a row (yritämme estää... lyömästä) connect to each other?
They form a chain where each verb dictates the form of the next one. Yrittää (to try) requires the standard 1st infinitive, so we get estää. Then, estää requires the 3rd infinitive elative, resulting in lyömästä.