Word
Hän sanoi, että tuo kellonaika ei käy hänelle.
Meaning
He said that that time doesn't suit him.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Hän sanoi, että tuo kellonaika ei käy hänelle.
tuo
that
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
sanoa
to say
Questions & Answers about Hän sanoi, että tuo kellonaika ei käy hänelle.
Why is the pronoun in the allative case (hänelle)?
When the verb käydä means "to suit" or "to be okay for", it requires the person experiencing this to be in the allative case (ending in -lle).
Could we use ei sovi here instead of ei käy?
Yes, sopia and käydä are practically interchangeable in this context. Saying tuo kellonaika ei sovi hänelle means exactly the same thing, and both verbs require the experiencer to be in the allative case.
Could I just say tuo aika instead of tuo kellonaika?
You could, but kellonaika (literally "clock time") is more precise for scheduling. It specifically refers to a time of day on the clock, avoiding any ambiguity that they might be discussing a general duration or date.
Why is ei käy in the present tense when the main verb sanoi is in the past tense?
Unlike English, which shifts tenses backwards in reported speech (He said it didn't suit him), Finnish indirect speech keeps the original tense the speaker used. Since his original statement was present tense (This doesn't suit me), the että clause stays in the present tense.