Breakdown of Uutta moottoritietä ei rakennettane.
uusi
new
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
rakentaa
to build
moottoritie
highway
Questions & Answers about Uutta moottoritietä ei rakennettane.
How is the negative potential passive formed from the verb rakentaa (to build)?
The standard rule is to take the present passive (rakennetaan), drop the -an, and add -ne. Strictly speaking, standard Finnish grammar dictates this should be ei rakennetane. However, as seen in this sentence, it is extremely common for native speakers to write rakennettane (with a double tt). This happens because people mistakenly apply the -ttane ending that belongs to other verb groups (like type 4 verbs).
Why is uusi moottoritie (new highway) in the partitive case here (Uutta moottoritietä)?
Even though "the new highway" acts as the subject in the English translation, Finnish passive sentences treat it as an object. Because the verb is negative (ei rakennettane), the object must be placed in the partitive case.
Would I hear ei rakennettane in everyday spoken Finnish?
Probably not. The potential mood is quite formal and is mostly used in news, official documents, or literature. In casual speech, Finns usually express this meaning by combining the normal negative passive with a probability word, like Uutta moottoritietä ei varmaan rakenneta (probably won't be built).
What does the word order of this sentence tell us?
Placing Uutta moottoritietä at the very beginning of the sentence establishes it as the known topic ("As for the new highway..."). The new information—that it is unlikely to be built—follows it. In Finnish, old or known information typically comes first.