Breakdown of Kätyrini, älkäämme aliarvioiko sankariakaan!
sankari
the hero
älkäämme
let's not
kätyri
henchman
aliarvioida
to underestimate
Questions & Answers about Kätyrini, älkäämme aliarvioiko sankariakaan!
How do we form the command 'let's not underestimate' in this sentence?
This uses the formal 1st person plural negative imperative, which is the focus of this lesson. It consists of the negative verb älkäämme (let us not) and the main verb's stem plus -ko or -kö. The stem of aliarvioida (to underestimate) is aliarvioi-, so we get aliarvioiko.
Why does kätyrini translate to the plural 'my henchmen' when it doesn't have a plural -t marker?
When you attach a possessive suffix like -ni (my) to a plural noun in the nominative case, the plural -t is dropped. Because of this rule, kätyrini can mean either 'my henchman' or 'my henchmen'. We rely on context to know it is plural here.
Why is the object sankariakaan in the partitive case?
In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence must always be in the partitive case. Since älkäämme makes this a negative command, the base word sankari (hero) becomes the partitive sankaria before adding the extra ending.
What is the purpose of the -kaan suffix on sankariakaan?
The clitic -kaan (or -kään) is used in negative sentences to mean 'either' or 'even'. In this context, it translates to 'the hero either' or 'even the hero', adding emphasis to the warning.