Breakdown of Keskiajalla ei liene ajateltu, että maapallo on litteä.
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
ajatella
to think
että
that (conjunction)
maapallo
the globe
keskiaika
Middle Ages
litteä
flat
Questions & Answers about Keskiajalla ei liene ajateltu, että maapallo on litteä.
How does ei liene ajateltu break down grammatically?
This is the negative perfect potential in the passive voice. It consists of the negation word ei, the potential connegative form of the verb "to be" (liene), and the passive past participle of the main verb ajatella (ajateltu).
Why use ei liene instead of just ei ajateltu?
Ei ajateltu is the regular past passive negative, meaning "was not thought" as an absolute fact. By using the potential mood word liene, you add an element of probability or uncertainty: it translates to "it was probably not thought".
Why is the participle ajateltu instead of ajatellut?
Because this sentence uses the passive voice ("it was probably not thought"). Ajatellut is the active past participle, which you would use if a specific person was doing the thinking (for example: Hän ei liene ajatellut... - "He probably didn't think...").
In English, we often shift the tense to say "it was thought that the earth was flat." Why does Finnish use the present tense on litteä?
Finnish is stricter about preserving the tense of the original thought in an että (that) clause. The people in the Middle Ages would have thought: "Maapallo on litteä" (The earth is flat). Finnish keeps this present tense in the subordinate clause, even though the main clause (ei liene ajateltu) refers to the past.
Why is "In the Middle Ages" expressed with the adessive case (-lla) in keskiajalla?
Periods of time ending in the word -aika (time) usually take the adessive case (-lla / -llä) to express "in" or "during" that time. Another common example you might remember is vapaa-ajalla (in one's free time).
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