Breakdown of Ystävä, johon luotan, pysyy uskollisena ja positiivisena.
ja
and
ystävä
friend
pysyä
to stay (remain in a state or position)
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Ystävä, johon luotan, pysyy uskollisena ja positiivisena.
Why do uskollisena and positiivisena end in -na?
The ending -na is the essive case, which expresses a continuous state of being. The verb pysyä (to stay or remain) strictly requires words describing the maintained state to be in the essive case.
Why is the relative pronoun johon instead of just joka?
The relative pronoun must take the grammatical case required by the verb in its own clause. The verb luottaa (to trust) always demands the illative case (the "into" case). Therefore, joka changes to its illative form, johon.
If the sentence used olla (to be) instead of pysyä (to stay), would the adjectives still take the -na ending?
No, they would revert to their basic nominative forms. You would say Ystävä on uskollinen ja positiivinen. The essive case is specifically triggered here by the verb pysyä to emphasize that the friend's state remains unchanged over time.
Do I always have to put the case ending on every adjective in a list?
Yes. When multiple adjectives describe the same noun and are connected by ja (and), they must all agree in case. Because the verb pysyä dictates the essive case here, both uskollinen and positiivinen must get the -na ending.