Word
Vaikka kuinka yrittäisin, en pyydystä tällaista ovelaa hiirtä.
Meaning
No matter how much I try, I do not catch such a cunning mouse.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vaikka kuinka yrittäisin, en pyydystä tällaista ovelaa hiirtä.
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
kuinka
how
yrittää
to try
vaikka
although / even though
Questions & Answers about Vaikka kuinka yrittäisin, en pyydystä tällaista ovelaa hiirtä.
Why is the verb yrittäisin in the conditional mood here?
The structure vaikka kuinka is often followed by the conditional mood to emphasize that the situation is hypothetical or extreme. Using yrittäisin gives the meaning of "even if I were to try as much as possible."
Does vaikka kuinka literally mean "although how"?
Yes, vaikka means "although" or "even if," and kuinka means "how." When combined, they form a fixed concessive phrase meaning "no matter how" or "no matter how much."
Why use the verb pyydystää for catching instead of a common phrase like saada kiinni?
While saada kiinni is a very common, general way to say "to catch," pyydystää specifically means to hunt, trap, or catch an animal. It fits perfectly here because it emphasizes the act of trying to outsmart and trap prey.
Why is the entire object phrase tällaista ovelaa hiirtä in the partitive case?
The main clause of the sentence is negative (en pyydystä). In Finnish, the object of a negative verb must always take the partitive case. Because of this strict rule, the base words tällainen ovela hiiri all take their partitive endings here.