Breakdown of Mehiläiset eivät pistä mehiläishoitajiammekaan.
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
mehiläinen
bee
pistää
to sting
mehiläishoitaja
the beekeeper
Questions & Answers about Mehiläiset eivät pistä mehiläishoitajiammekaan.
How do you break down all the suffixes attached to mehiläishoitajiammekaan?
This word perfectly follows the strict Finnish suffix order: Stem + Plural + Case + Possessive + Enclitic. The stem is mehiläishoitaja. First, we add the plural marker i, which replaces the final a to make the plural stem mehiläishoitaji-. Next is the partitive case ending a, making mehiläishoitajia. Then we add the possessive suffix mme (our) to get mehiläishoitajiamme. Finally, the enclitic particle kaan (even) is attached at the very end.
Why is the partitive case used in the middle of mehiläishoitajiammekaan?
The verb pistää (to sting) is used here in a negative sentence (eivät pistä). In Finnish, the object of a negative sentence is almost always in the partitive case. The possessive and enclitic suffixes simply stack on top of that required partitive ending.
Why use the suffix kaan here instead of kin to mean "even"?
The enclitic particle kin means "also" or "even" in positive sentences. However, because this sentence is negative (eivät pistä), kin must be replaced by its negative counterpart kaan (or kään, depending on vowel harmony).
Why does the stem become mehiläishoitaji- instead of keeping its final a before the plural marker?
Words ending in -ja or -jä, which usually describe a person doing an action (like hoitaja, meaning caretaker or keeper), drop their final vowel when the plural i is added. That is why mehiläishoitaja plus i becomes mehiläishoitaji- before the rest of the suffixes are added.
Why is the subject Mehiläiset in the nominative plural instead of the partitive plural, since the sentence is negative?
It is a common mistake to think negation makes everything partitive! In a standard negative sentence, only the object (like mehiläishoitajiammekaan) must be in the partitive case. The subject of a normal action verb like pistää remains in the nominative case, which is why we use the standard plural mehiläiset.
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