Breakdown of Kenelle annan tämän valtakirjan johtajan sijasta?
tämä
this
antaa
to give
kenelle
to whom
johtaja
the director
sijasta
instead of (+ noun)
valtakirja
power of attorney
Questions & Answers about Kenelle annan tämän valtakirjan johtajan sijasta?
Why does johtaja take the genitive form johtajan here?
The word sijasta is a postposition meaning "instead of". In Finnish, most postpositions require the word coming right before them to be in the genitive case. That is why johtaja (manager) becomes johtajan.
Could I say johtajan puolesta in this sentence instead?
You could, but it completely changes the meaning. Johtajan sijasta means you are giving it to someone instead of the manager (meaning the manager is being bypassed). If you used johtajan puolesta, it would mean you are giving it to someone on behalf of the manager (acting as the manager's representative).
Why is the object tämän valtakirjan in the genitive-like accusative case instead of the partitive?
The verb antaa (to give) here describes a complete, finished action, and you are handing over a whole, single document. When an action is complete and affects the entire object, Finnish uses the accusative case. For singular nouns, the accusative looks exactly like the genitive (tämän valtakirjan).
The word valtakirja translates to "power of attorney". How is this compound word formed?
It is a compound word made of valta (power or authority) and kirja (book, but in legal or older contexts, it often means a document, deed, or letter). So valtakirja literally means a "document of authority", which perfectly describes a proxy or power of attorney.
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