Breakdown of Se, mikä pelottaa monia, on täydellinen tyhjyys.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
täydellinen
perfect
mikä
which (relative pronoun)
moni
many (a)
pelottaa
to scare
tyhjyys
emptiness
Questions & Answers about Se, mikä pelottaa monia, on täydellinen tyhjyys.
Why do we use 'se, mikä' here instead of just 'mikä' for 'what'?
This is a pseudo-cleft sentence, which Finnish uses to place strong focus on the ending. While English simply says 'What scares many...', Finnish formally pairs the demonstrative pronoun se in the main clause with the relative pronoun mikä. It literally means 'That, which scares many, is...'.
Why is the relative pronoun 'mikä' used here instead of 'joka'?
The pronoun joka is used when referring back to a specific noun or person. Because this sentence introduces an abstract, undefined concept rather than a specific physical thing, Finnish requires mikä.
Why is 'monia' in the partitive case?
It acts as the object of the emotion verb pelottaa (to scare). In Finnish, verbs that describe emotions or feelings almost always take a partitive object because the action is viewed as continuous or an ongoing state.
How does the word 'tyhjyys' get its meaning?
It is an abstract noun created from the adjective tyhjä (empty). By adding the suffix -yys, which functions just like the English suffix '-ness', it becomes the noun for 'emptiness'.
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