Breakdown of Olipa lahjus kuinka iso tahansa, en piilota tätä hämärää sopimusta.
tämä
this
olla
to be
iso
big
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
Questions & Answers about Olipa lahjus kuinka iso tahansa, en piilota tätä hämärää sopimusta.
Why does the sentence use olipa (past tense) when the English translation says 'is'?
In this concessive structure, the verb with the -pa clitic combines with a question word and tahansa to mean 'no matter how'. While oli is indeed the past tense of olla, the form olipa is frequently used idiomatically as 'be it' for present and future situations too. You could also use onpa, but olipa is extremely common here.
Why does the adjective iso sit between kuinka and tahansa?
The interrogative word and tahansa function as bookends around the specific thing being modified. Because we are expressing 'however big', the adjective iso attaches directly to the question word kuinka to form the phrase kuinka iso, and tahansa must follow that entire unit.
Why is the object tätä hämärää sopimusta in the partitive case?
This is due to the negative object rule. Because the main clause has the negative verb en piilota (I do not hide), the object of that action must take the partitive case. This overrides the total object cases that would be required if the sentence were affirmative.
Does the word hämärää literally mean 'shady' in the sense of a shadow?