Breakdown of Tutkimusmatkailijat uskovat siihen, että viikingit lienevät purjehtineet tänne ensin.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
tänne
to here
että
that (conjunction)
uskoa
to believe
purjehtia
to sail
ensin
first, before anything else
tutkimusmatkailija
the explorer
viikinki
the Viking
Questions & Answers about Tutkimusmatkailijat uskovat siihen, että viikingit lienevät purjehtineet tänne ensin.
Why is the potential auxiliary verb lienevät plural here?
The potential perfect is formed with the potential form of olla (which is lienee) plus the past active participle of the main verb (purjehtineet). Because the subject of the clause is plural (viikingit), both the auxiliary verb and the participle must be in their plural forms: lienevät and purjehtineet.
Why do we need siihen before the että clause?
The verb uskoa (to believe) governs the illative case, meaning in Finnish you believe into something. When you are expressing "believe that [clause]", Finnish often uses the pronoun se in the illative (siihen) as a bridge to the että clause. While you might hear people drop it in casual speech, uskoa siihen, että is the standard, grammatically complete way to say it.
Tutkimusmatkailijat is a very long word. How is it constructed?
It breaks down logically into smaller parts: tutkimus (research or study) + matka (trip or journey). Together, tutkimusmatka means an expedition. The suffix -ilija refers to a person who does that activity (derived from the verb matkailla, to travel around). So, a tutkimusmatkailija is literally a research-traveler or explorer!
Why does the sentence use tänne (to here) instead of täällä (here)?
Verbs of motion in Finnish require the destination to be in a directional case. Even though in English we just say "sailed here", the sailing involves movement towards this location. Therefore, we must use the directional tänne rather than the static täällä.
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