Breakdown of Moni jäsenistä taitaa pelätä tätä äänestystä.
tämä
this
pelätä
to fear
moni
many (a)
taitaa
to seem to, probably (does)
Questions & Answers about Moni jäsenistä taitaa pelätä tätä äänestystä.
Why do we use the elative case in jäsenistä instead of just saying monia jäseniä?
This is the core of the subset syntax you are learning! Moni jäsenistä means "many of the members" (referring to a specific, already known group). If you said monia jäseniä, it would just mean "many members" in a general sense. The plural elative ending -istä expresses "out of" this specific group.
Since "many members" refers to a plural group, why is the verb taitaa in the singular form?
In Finnish, the quantifier moni is grammatically singular. Because it acts as the subject of the sentence here, the verb must match it in the third-person singular form (taitaa), rather than the plural taitavat.
How does the word taitaa work in this sentence?
Taitaa is a very common auxiliary verb that means "is probably doing", "might", or "seems to". When you use it, you conjugate taitaa to match the subject, and the main action verb (pelätä) stays in its dictionary form (the infinitive). Together, taitaa pelätä means "probably fears".
Why are the words for "this vote" (tätä äänestystä) in the partitive case?