Breakdown of Älkää katsoko aurinkoon! Nyt on nimittäin pimennys.
olla
to be
nyt
now
aurinko
sun
katsoa
to watch
älkää
do not (plural/formal)
nimittäin
namely / because (explanatory adverb) / you see
pimennys
eclipse
Questions & Answers about Älkää katsoko aurinkoon! Nyt on nimittäin pimennys.
Why is nimittäin placed after on instead of at the beginning of the sentence?
The word nimittäin is an explanatory connector that typically translates to because or you see. Unlike the conjunction koska, which starts a new clause, nimittäin is placed after the first or second grammatical element of its clause, often right after the verb. Here, it follows Nyt on to explain the reason for the command in the first sentence.
How is the negative plural command älkää katsoko formed?
This is the plural negative imperative, used when giving a command to more than one person or speaking formally. The negative verb is conjugated to the plural form älkää, and the main verb katsoa takes the plural imperative ending -ko or -kö. If you were warning a single person informally, it would be älä katso.
Why does aurinko take the illative case aurinkoon here?
The verb katsoa (to look at) is a verb that requires the target of the gaze to be in the illative case, which is the into case. In Finnish, you literally say that you are looking into the sun (aurinkoon).
Why is the word order Nyt on ... pimennys instead of Pimennys on nyt?
This is an existential sentence, which is used to express that something exists or is happening. In Finnish, these sentences usually start with a location or time word like Nyt, followed by the verb on, and the new information, which is the subject pimennys, is introduced at the very end.
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