Breakdown of Satuin lipsauttamaan hänen salaisuutensa.
hän
he / she
salaisuus
secret
sattua
to happen (by chance)
lipsauttaa
to let slip
Questions & Answers about Satuin lipsauttamaan hänen salaisuutensa.
Wait, why is lipsauttamaan in the -maan form here?
When the verb sattua means "to happen to do something," it requires the following verb to take the -maan/-mään ending (the 3rd infinitive illative). So, sattua + lipsauttamaan translates to "to happen to let slip."
Doesn't sattua usually mean "to hurt"?
It can! Sattua is a homonym. It frequently means "to hurt" (e.g., Päähän sattuu - "My head hurts"), but it also means "to happen" or "to occur." When you pair it with another verb in the -maan/-mään form, it always carries the meaning of doing something by chance or coincidence.
I've seen the verb lipsahtaa (to slip). How is lipsauttaa different?
They are a related pair, but their focus is different. Lipsahtaa describes something happening on its own (e.g., Sana lipsahti - "The word slipped"). Lipsauttaa is the causative version: it means that an actor actively (though perhaps accidentally) causes the slip, such as a person blurting out a secret.
If "his secret" is the total object of this sentence, why doesn't it have the accusative -n ending?