Breakdown of Minua pelottaa, kun laukaus osuu seinään.
minä
I
seinä
wall
kun
when (conjunction)
pelottaa
to scare
Questions & Answers about Minua pelottaa, kun laukaus osuu seinään.
Why is "Minua" in the partitive case instead of the nominative "Minä"?
The verb pelottaa is an experiencer verb. In Finnish, verbs expressing physical or emotional feelings often take the person experiencing the feeling in the partitive case, while the verb stays in the third-person singular. Literally, it is closer to "It frightens me."
How is minua pelottaa different from minä pelkään?
Both translate to "I am scared," but they focus on different things. Minä pelkään uses the verb pelätä (to fear) and focuses on the subject actively feeling the fear. Minua pelottaa uses the causative verb pelottaa (to frighten) and implies that something external is causing the feeling.
Why does the wall (seinä) take the illative ending -än in osuu seinään?
The verb osua (to hit or strike) strictly requires its target to be in the illative case. Even though in English a shot hits "on" or just "hits" the wall, Finnish views the action as directing energy into the target.