Breakdown of Vihaan tätä, kun he tappelevat.
tämä
this
he
they
kun
when (conjunction)
tapella
to fight
vihata
to hate
Questions & Answers about Vihaan tätä, kun he tappelevat.
Why is tätä used here instead of just saying 'Vihaan kun he tappelevat'?
In Finnish, it is very common to use a placeholder pronoun like tätä (this) or sitä (it) in the main clause to point forward to a kun (when) or että (that) clause. Because the verb vihata (to hate) requires its object to be in the partitive case, this placeholder takes the partitive form tätä.
Does the verb vihata always require the partitive case?
Yes. Vihata is a verb of emotion. Verbs that express strong feelings towards something (like loving, hating, fearing, or admiring) generally require their object to be in the partitive case, because the emotion is viewed as an ongoing or incomplete state.
The dictionary form is tapella with one 'p', but here it is tappelevat with two. Why did it change?
Tapella (to fight) is a Type 3 verb, which means it undergoes reverse consonant gradation. The infinitive form has the weak grade (single p), but when you build the stem to conjugate it, it strengthens to the strong grade (double pp), giving us the stem tappele-.
Could I use riitelevät instead of tappelevat to mean 'they fight'?
It depends on the type of fighting. Tapella is primarily used for physical fighting or rough brawling. If the people are just having a verbal argument or quarreling, the verb riidellä is the much more natural choice.
How would I use this lesson's grammar with kieltää to say 'I forbid them from fighting'?
The verb kieltää (to forbid/prevent) requires the action being prevented to be in the 3rd infinitive elative form (-masta/-mästä). To say this, you would replace the 'kun' clause and say: Kiellän heitä tappelemasta.
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