Breakdown of Olen yrittänyt olla ymmärtäväinen ja avulias kaikille.
olla
to be
ja
and
yrittää
to try
kaikki
all, everything, everyone
avulias
helpful
ymmärtäväinen
understanding
Questions & Answers about Olen yrittänyt olla ymmärtäväinen ja avulias kaikille.
Why do we use the allative case in kaikille instead of another case?
Adjectives that describe an interpersonal attitude or how you behave towards someone, such as ymmärtäväinen (understanding) and avulias (helpful), require the target of that behavior to be in the allative case (-lle). You can think of it as directing your attitude 'onto' them.
How does the suffix work in the word ymmärtäväinen?
The suffix -vainen or -väinen is added to verbs to describe a person who has a strong tendency to do that action. Here, it is added to ymmärtää (to understand), creating an adjective for someone who is habitually empathetic or understanding.
Is avulias formed with a similar type of suffix?
Yes, the suffix -lias or -liäs forms adjectives from nouns or verbs to mean 'having a lot of' or 'tending to'. It attaches to the weak stem of apu (help) to create avulias, meaning someone who gives a lot of help. Notice the consonant gradation where p weakens to v before the suffix.
As a quick refresher, why is olla in its basic dictionary form here?
The verb yrittää (to try) is part of a group of verbs that always requires the following verb to be in the first infinitive, which is the basic dictionary form. Even though the main verb is in the perfect tense (olen yrittänyt), the action being attempted (olla) stays in the infinitive.
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