Breakdown of Legendan mukaan valittu tappaa lohikäärmeen.
valita
to choose
mukaan
according to
tappaa
to kill
lohikäärme
dragon
legenda
legend
Questions & Answers about Legendan mukaan valittu tappaa lohikäärmeen.
Why is valittu used on its own here without a noun like "henkilö" (person)?
Valittu is the passive past participle of valita (to choose). In this sentence, it is substantivized, meaning it acts entirely as a noun: "the chosen one". In Finnish, participles can often stand alone and take noun endings if the context makes it clear who or what is being described.
Why is the object lohikäärmeen in the genitive-like accusative case instead of the partitive?
The case of the object reflects the aspect of the action. Because slaying is a bounded action that will be fully completed, it takes the total object form (lohikäärmeen). If it were in the partitive (lohikäärmettä), it would imply the slaying was an incomplete or ongoing process.
The translation says "will slay", but tappaa is in the present tense. How do we know it refers to the future?
Finnish does not have a dedicated future tense. Future time is usually expressed by using a present tense verb (tappaa) combined with a total object (lohikäärmeen). Together, this structure signals that the action will be completely finished at a later time.
Why is legenda in the genitive form legendan?
It is required by the postposition mukaan (according to). When using mukaan to state the source of a claim or story, the noun preceding it must always take the genitive case.
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