Breakdown of Vakituinen työntekijä pelkää harvoin tulla erotetuksi.
tulla
to become
pelätä
to fear
harvoin
rarely, seldom
työntekijä
the employee
vakituinen
permanent
erottaa
to fire
Questions & Answers about Vakituinen työntekijä pelkää harvoin tulla erotetuksi.
Why is "getting fired" translated as tulla erotetuksi here?
This is the translative participle construction for a passive experience. It combines the first infinitive tulla (to become) with the passive past participle of the action verb in the translative case (-ksi). Together, they express "getting" or "becoming" the target of an action, which here means getting fired.
How exactly do we build the form erotetuksi?
We start with the verb erottaa (to separate, to fire). First, we form its passive past participle, which is erotettu (fired). Then, we take the inflectional stem erotetu- and add the translative case ending -ksi, resulting in erotetuksi.
Could we just use a normal passive form of erottaa here instead of the tulla construction?
Not easily in this exact sentence structure. The verb pelkää (fears) needs an object or a complementary action. Since the employee fears something happening to themselves, we need an infinitive construction. The verb tulla provides the infinitive, and the translative participle erotetuksi provides the passive meaning.
Does the base verb erottaa only mean to fire someone?
No, erottaa is a common verb primarily meaning "to separate", "to distinguish", or "to tell apart". Its use as "to fire" or "to dismiss" is a specific meaning that comes from the idea of separating a person from their workplace or position.
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