Breakdown of Sopimus vaatii salassapitoa, ellei toimitusjohtaja anna lupaa.
antaa
to give
lupa
permission
sopimus
contract
vaatia
to claim (demand)
toimitusjohtaja
the CEO
salassapito
the secrecy / the non-disclosure
ellei
if not / unless (inflects: ellen, ellet, ellei...)
Questions & Answers about Sopimus vaatii salassapitoa, ellei toimitusjohtaja anna lupaa.
How does ellei translate to 'unless' in this sentence?
Ellei is a fused negative conjunction combining jos (if) and ei (the 3rd-person singular negative verb). It literally means 'if... not', which functions in Finnish exactly how 'unless' works in English. Because the CEO (toimitusjohtaja) is a 3rd-person singular subject, the negative verb part is ei.
Why is the verb antaa (to give) in the form anna here?
Because ellei already contains the negative verb ei, the main verb of that clause must be in its connegative form (the form used after en, et, ei, etc.). For antaa, consonant gradation changes the strong 'nt' to a weak 'nn', making the connegative form anna.
Is the word lupaa in the partitive case because antaa usually requires it?
No, lupaa (permission) is in the partitive case strictly because its clause is negative (triggered by ellei). In Finnish, whenever a sentence or clause is grammatically negative, its direct object must be in the partitive case.
Why is salassapitoa (secrecy) in the partitive case?
The verb vaatia (to require) typically takes a partitive object when the thing being required is an abstract, uncountable concept or a continuous state, like confidentiality. If the agreement required a specific, countable thing like a signature (allekirjoitus), it would take the genitive/accusative case instead.
How is the noun salassapitoa formed?
Its base form is salassapito. This is a compound of salassa (in secret) and pito (keeping or holding, from the verb pitää). It literally means 'keeping in secret', which translates to secrecy or confidentiality. The -a at the end is the partitive ending.
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