Breakdown of Kun kuurolla on kuulolaite, hän kykenee kuuntelemaan musiikkia.
olla
to be
hän
he / she
kuunnella
to listen to
musiikki
music
kun
when (conjunction)
kyetä
to be able to
kuuro
deaf
kuulolaite
hearing aid
Questions & Answers about Kun kuurolla on kuulolaite, hän kykenee kuuntelemaan musiikkia.
Why does this sentence use kuuntelemaan instead of the basic infinitive kuunnella?
The verb kyetä (to be able to, to be capable of) requires the next verb to be in the third infinitive illative form, which ends in -maan or -mään. Because of this rule, kuunnella becomes kuuntelemaan.
The dictionary form is kyetä, so how do we get the form kykenee here?
Kyetä is a Type 6 verb, which means its stem is formed by adding -ne-. Like many Type 6 verbs, it also has consonant gradation where the dictionary form is weak (missing the k) and the conjugated forms are strong (the k appears). This gives us the stem kykene-, and adding the third-person ending (doubling the final vowel) makes it kykenee.
Why is the word for a deaf person (kuuro) written as kuurolla in the first clause?
Finnish does not have a direct verb for 'to have'. Instead, it uses the ownership structure: the owner in the adessive case (-lla or -llä) followed by the verb on. So kuurolla on literally translates to 'on a deaf person is', which means 'a deaf person has'.
Why is the word for music in the partitive form musiikkia?
The verb kuunnella (to listen to) is a partitive verb, meaning it requires its object to be in the partitive case. Whenever you listen to something in Finnish, the thing you are listening to will take the partitive ending.
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