Breakdown of Johtokunta nimitti hänet eilen varapuheenjohtajaksi.
hänet
him / her
eilen
yesterday
johtokunta
the board of directors
nimittää
to appoint
varapuheenjohtaja
vice chairperson
Questions & Answers about Johtokunta nimitti hänet eilen varapuheenjohtajaksi.
Why does varapuheenjohtaja take the -ksi ending here?
The verb nimittää (to appoint) requires the role or title to be in the translative case, which ends in -ksi. This case is used because the person is transitioning into a new state or position. You will see this same rule with verbs like valita (to elect) and kutsua (to call or name).
I sometimes mix up the essive (-na) and translative (-ksi) cases for roles. Why couldn't we use the essive varapuheenjohtajana here?
The essive case (-na) is used when someone is already acting in an ongoing role, for example to say 'As vice chairperson, he voted...'. The translative (-ksi) is required here because the sentence describes the actual transition or change into that role. Verbs of appointing and electing always trigger this change-of-state case.
Why is the object hänet instead of the partitive häntä?
The act of appointing is a completed action, which means the verb takes a total object rather than a partitive one. For personal pronouns like hän, the total object uses the special accusative form that ends in -t, making it hänet.
What are the component parts of the word varapuheenjohtajaksi?
It is a long compound word: vara- means vice or deputy, puheen is the genitive of puhe (speech), and johtaja means leader or director. Together, puheenjohtaja is the chairperson (the 'leader of speech'), so varapuheenjohtaja is the vice chairperson. The -ksi at the end is the translative case ending.
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