Breakdown of Kääpiö totelkoon kuningasta, jonka miekka on painava.
olla
to be
painava
heavy
miekka
sword
kuningas
king
joka
who / which (relative pronoun)
kääpiö
dwarf
totella
to obey
Questions & Answers about Kääpiö totelkoon kuningasta, jonka miekka on painava.
Why is the translation "let the dwarf obey" instead of a direct command?
This sentence uses the 3rd person imperative (often called the jussive), marked by the -koon suffix. Regular imperatives order the person you are talking to directly, whereas the jussive expresses a command, wish, or concession directed at a third party ("let him obey" or "may he obey").
How do we form the jussive verb totelkoon from the infinitive totella?
Totella (to obey) is a type 3 verb. To form the 3rd person imperative, you use the consonant stem. You find this by dropping the final -la / -lä from the infinitive to get totel-, and then attaching the jussive suffix -koon.
Why is the subject kääpiö explicitly stated here?
Standard 2nd person commands often drop the subject because "you" is implied (e.g., "Obey!"). However, with the 3rd person imperative, you must state the subject so the listener knows who is supposed to perform the action. The subject of a jussive verb takes the standard nominative case (kääpiö).
Why is the object kuningasta in the partitive case? Do imperatives change object rules?
While 1st and 2nd person imperatives have special rules that drop the genitive-accusative -n from total objects, the 3rd person imperative behaves like a normal sentence. However, none of that applies here because totella is a strict partitive verb. It expresses an ongoing action, so its object must always be in the partitive case (kuningasta).
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