Breakdown of Tekipä tämä hämärä eliitti mitä tahansa, he eivät voi vaientaa minua.
tämä
this
minä
I
he
they
mikä
what
ei
no / not (negative verb)
tehdä
to do
voida
can, to be able to
tahansa
any / -ever
eliitti
elite
vaientaa
to silence
hämärä
shady
Questions & Answers about Tekipä tämä hämärä eliitti mitä tahansa, he eivät voi vaientaa minua.
How does the 'no matter what' structure work in tekipä... mitä tahansa?
You build this structure by attaching the emphatic clitic -pa/-pä to the verb (teki + pä) and putting it at the beginning of the clause. Then, you pair it with a question word and tahansa. Here, mitä tahansa means 'anything' or 'whatever'. Together, the phrase translates to 'No matter what... does'.
The English translation says 'does', but tekipä is in the past tense. Why not use the present tense tekeepä?
In these 'no matter what' structures, Finnish frequently uses the past tense to express a hypothetical or unconditional idea, even if it refers to the present or future. You could technically say tekeepä, but tekipä is very natural here and emphasizes that regardless of any action taken, the outcome won't change.
Eliitti is a singular noun, so why does the second clause use the plural pronoun he (they) instead of se (it)?
Strictly grammatically, eliitti is singular and could take se. However, because it is a collective noun referring to a group of human beings, Finnish speakers often switch to the plural he in the following clause based on the meaning. You will often see this with other human collective nouns like kansa (the people) or perhe (family).
Why is the object minua in the partitive case?
It takes the partitive case because the main clause is negative (he eivät voi vaientaa). Whenever a transitive verb's action is negated, its object must be in the partitive, showing that the action (silencing) does not reach completion.
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