Uusi todiste ei liene paljastanut murhaajaa.
The new evidence probably has not revealed the murderer.
Breakdown of Uusi todiste ei liene paljastanut murhaajaa.
olla
to be
uusi
new
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
todiste
evidence
Questions & Answers about Uusi todiste ei liene paljastanut murhaajaa.
How is the potential perfect negative structured in ei liene paljastanut?
It uses the negative verb (ei), followed by the connegative potential form of the auxiliary verb olla (liene), and finally the past active participle of the main verb (paljastanut). Together, they express that an action in the past 'probably didn't' happen.
Why does this sentence use liene instead of the usual ole for the perfect tense auxiliary?
liene is the special potential mood stem of the verb olla (to be). The standard perfect negative is ei ole paljastanut (has not revealed). To add the meaning of 'probably' or 'might', you simply swap the standard auxiliary ole for its potential counterpart liene.
Why is the object murhaajaa in the partitive case?
Negative sentences almost always force the object into the partitive case. Even though the potential mood means the negation is just a probability ('probably did not'), the grammatical presence of the negative verb ei is enough to require the partitive murhaajaa rather than a total object form.
If the subject were plural, like 'the new clues' (uudet todisteet), how would the verb phrase change?