Questions & Answers about Hän kuvittelee epäonnistuneensa.
Why is there no word for 'he' in the second part of the sentence?
This sentence uses the referative construction to replace an että clause (että hän on epäonnistunut). Because the subject of the main clause (hän) matches the subject of the imagined action, the genitive pronoun hänen is dropped. Instead, we show who did the action by attaching the possessive suffix -nsa directly to the participle.
How do we form the word epäonnistuneensa?
It comes from the past active participle epäonnistunut (failed). For this construction, we use the genitive stem epäonnistunee- and add the genitive ending -n, making epäonnistuneen. When the possessive suffix -nsa is added, the -n drops out, leaving epäonnistuneensa.
How would the sentence change if he imagined that someone else had failed?
If the subjects were different, you would state the other person in the genitive case. For example, 'He imagines that Anna has failed' would be Hän kuvittelee Annan epäonnistuneen. Notice there is no possessive suffix on the participle here because Anna is not the subject of the main clause.
How do we know this means he 'has failed' rather than he 'is failing'?
The time frame is determined by the participle type. This sentence uses the past participle stem (-nee-) to show the action happened before the imagining. If he were imagining failing right now, you would use the present participle instead: Hän kuvittelee epäonnistuvansa.
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