Hän kuiskaili ystävälleen meidän kuulemattamme.
She kept whispering to her friend without us hearing.
Breakdown of Hän kuiskaili ystävälleen meidän kuulemattamme.
hän
he / she
me
we
ystävä
friend
kuulla
to hear
kuiskailla
to keep whispering
Questions & Answers about Hän kuiskaili ystävälleen meidän kuulemattamme.
How does meidän kuulemattamme literally build the meaning 'without us hearing'?
It uses the 3rd infinitive abessive form -matta (which means 'without doing') attached to the verb stem kuule-. Because the people not hearing ('us') are different from the main subject ('she'), we use the genitive pronoun meidän and add the matching first-person plural possessive suffix -mme to the verb form. Structurally, it translates to 'without our hearing'.
Could you just say kuulemattamme and drop the word meidän?
Yes! Just like with standard noun possession, first- and second-person pronouns (minun, sinun, meidän, teidän) can be omitted in formal Finnish because the possessive suffix (here, -mme) already makes it completely clear whose action is unperformed. Keeping meidän just adds a bit of emphasis.
Why use kuiskaili instead of the simpler past tense kuiskasi?
Kuiskailla is a frequentative verb derived from the basic verb kuiskata (to whisper). The -illa suffix indicates that the action is continuous, repeated, or drawn out. That is why it translates to 'kept whispering' rather than a single, brief whispered remark.
What is the -en at the end of ystävälleen doing here?
It is the third-person possessive suffix attached to the allative case ending (-lle). In standard Finnish, if the subject of the sentence is doing something involving their own friend, family member, or belonging, this possessive suffix is required. It clarifies she was whispering to her own friend.
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