Questions & Answers about Kaksi mehiläistä pistää karhua.
Why is the verb pistää in the singular form when there are two bees?
In Finnish, when the subject is a number (like kaksi) followed by a noun in the partitive case (mehiläistä), the verb takes the 3rd-person singular form. So we use pistää (it stings) instead of the plural pistävät (they sting).
Why is mehiläistä in the partitive case instead of a plural form?
How do we get mehiläistä from the dictionary form mehiläinen?
Words ending in -nen follow a very common pattern. To form the partitive singular, you drop the -nen and add -sta or -stä. Mehiläinen drops the -nen and adds -stä (due to vowel harmony) to become mehiläistä.
Why is karhua (the bear) in the partitive case here?
The verb pistää (to sting or prick) is an irresultative verb, meaning it describes an ongoing or incomplete action. Because the stinging doesn't grammatically encompass or 'finish' the whole bear, it takes a partitive object (karhua) rather than an accusative one.
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