Breakdown of He olisivat valinneet sinut ääntenlaskijaksi, jos olisit tullut ajoissa.
olla
to be
he
they
tulla
to come
valita
to choose
sinut
you (object)
ajoissa
on time
jos
if
ääntenlaskija
vote counter
Questions & Answers about He olisivat valinneet sinut ääntenlaskijaksi, jos olisit tullut ajoissa.
Why does ääntenlaskija take the -ksi (translative) ending here?
The verb valita (to choose/elect) requires the role or position someone is chosen for to be in the translative case (-ksi). The translative case expresses a change of state or taking on a new role, which translates smoothly to "as the vote counter" in English.
How exactly is the compound word ääntenlaskijaksi built?
The first part is äänten, which is the genitive plural of ääni (voice/vote), meaning "of the votes". The second part is laskija (counter, derived from the verb laskea). Finally, the translative ending -ksi is added to the end because of the verb valita.
Why is the object sinut in the accusative case instead of the partitive sinua?
The verb valita usually takes a total object because electing someone is a complete, indivisible action. Even though this sentence describes a hypothetical situation, the imagined result "would have been" fully completed, so we use the accusative personal pronoun sinut.
How do the verb forms olisivat valinneet and olisit tullut work together here?
Both are in the conditional perfect tense, which is used for hypothetical past situations ("would have elected", "had come"). It is formed using the conditional form of the auxiliary verb olla (here, olisivat and olisit) followed by the past participle of the main verb (valinneet and tullut).
The word for "on time" is ajoissa. What form is this literally?
It is literally the inessive plural (meaning "in times") of the word aika (time). However, ajoissa is a very common fixed expression in Finnish for being "on time" or "early enough", so you don't need to analyze its grammar every time you use it.
Learn He olisivat valinneet sinut ääntenlaskijaksi, jos olisit tullut ajoissa and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free