Breakdown of Sinun on estettävä koiraa pureskelemasta kenkää.
olla
to be
koira
dog
sinä
you
kenkä
the shoe
estää
to prevent
pureskella
to chew
Questions & Answers about Sinun on estettävä koiraa pureskelemasta kenkää.
Why does the word for chewing take the -masta ending here?
This is due to the verb estää (to prevent). Verbs that express stopping, preventing, or forbidding require the following verb to be in the third infinitive elative form. You build this by taking the strong stem of the verb (here, pureskele-) and adding -masta or -mästä.
Why is the dog (koiraa) in the partitive case?
The verb estää requires a partitive object when you are preventing a person, animal, or thing from doing an action. Because the dog is the target you are actively stopping, koira becomes koiraa.
What kind of grammar structure is Sinun on estettävä?
This is a necessive structure used to say that someone must do something. It is formed with a subject in the genitive case (Sinun), the verb olla in the third-person singular (on), and the passive present participle of the main verb (estettävä). It means the exact same thing as Sinun täytyy estää, but is slightly more formal and very common in written Finnish.
Why is the shoe (kenkää) also in the partitive case?
The shoe is the object of the verb pureskella (to chew). Because chewing is inherently an ongoing, continuous action rather than a momentary one with a clear endpoint, its object must be in the partitive case.
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