Breakdown of Istu takapenkille, jotta heidät voidaan kyydittää!
he
they
istua
to sit
voida
can, to be able to
jotta
so that / in order to
kyydittää
to give a ride
takapenkki
backseat
Questions & Answers about Istu takapenkille, jotta heidät voidaan kyydittää!
Why is heidät used here instead of the nominative he? The verb is passive (voidaan), so shouldn't the object drop its ending?
You are right that regular nouns drop their object case and look like the nominative in passive sentences. However, personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän, me, te, he) and the question word kuka are exceptions. They always take the special -t accusative ending when they are the total object, even in passives, imperatives, or necessity structures. That is why we use heidät here.
Why do we use the allative case -lle in takapenkille instead of translating 'in the backseat' literally?
In Finnish, verbs like istua (to sit) usually take the outer location cases when referring to furniture like chairs, sofas, and benches (penkki). You are sitting 'onto' the surface of the seat. Because istua also requires a directional case indicating where you are going to sit, we use the 'onto' case (-lle) rather than the static 'on' case (-lla).
In the phrase voidaan kyydittää, why is only voidaan in the passive form?
When a modal verb like voida (can, to be able to) is used in a passive sentence, only the modal verb takes the passive ending (voidaan). The main verb that follows it simply remains in its basic dictionary form, the first infinitive (kyydittää).
Could I use että instead of jotta in this sentence?
Yes, but jotta is the better and clearer choice here. Jotta specifically means 'so that' or 'in order to,' expressing a clear purpose. While että can sometimes mean 'so that' in spoken Finnish, it is usually just the generic conjunction 'that,' so using jotta avoids any ambiguity about intention.
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