Breakdown of Miksi salasitte suunnitelman minun tietämättäni?
minä
I
tietää
to know
miksi
why
suunnitelma
plan
salata
to conceal
Questions & Answers about Miksi salasitte suunnitelman minun tietämättäni?
How is the word tietämättäni formed from the verb tietää?
It uses the 3rd infinitive abessive form. You take the strong stem of the verb (tietä-), add the 3rd infinitive marker -mä-, then the abessive case ending -ttä (meaning 'without'), and finally the first-person singular possessive suffix -ni. Literally, it translates to 'without my knowing'.
Is the pronoun minun strictly required in this sentence?
No, it is optional. Because the possessive suffix -ni on tietämättäni already tells us who is not knowing (first-person singular), you could drop the pronoun completely. Adding minun just gives the sentence a bit more emphasis, similar to saying 'without me knowing' instead of just 'without knowing'.
Why does suunnitelman end in -n instead of being in the partitive case?
The verb salata (to conceal) takes a total object when the action is completed or covers the whole item. Since they concealed the entire plan, the object takes the accusative case, which looks exactly like the genitive (-n) for singular nouns.
What verb type is salasitte and how does it form the past tense?
It comes from the verb salata (to conceal, to keep secret), which is a Type 4 verb. To form the past tense (imperfect), the infinitive ending -ta is replaced by -si- before adding the personal ending, making it salasitte (you plural concealed).
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