Breakdown of Salaseura ei sano häntä petturiksi, mutta he ottivat arvonimen häneltä pois.
hän
he / she
mutta
but
he
they
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
sanoa
to say
ottaa
to take
pois
away
petturi
the traitor
salaseura
the secret society
arvonimi
the title
Questions & Answers about Salaseura ei sano häntä petturiksi, mutta he ottivat arvonimen häneltä pois.
Why does sanoa mean 'call' here, and why is petturiksi in the translative case?
While sanoa normally means 'to say', it means 'to call someone something' when used with a translative complement like petturiksi. This is a strict rule: sanoa requires the translative case for the label. If you used the verb kutsua (to call) instead, you would use the essive case for the label (petturina).
Why is the object häntä in the partitive case?
Verbs of labeling, such as sanoa and kutsua, always require their object to be in the partitive case. Even though the negative ei already forces a partitive object in this specific clause, häntä would still be partitive if the sentence were affirmative.
The subject salaseura is singular, which explains ei sano. Why does the second half of the sentence switch to the plural he ottivat?
Salaseura (secret society) is a collective noun. It is grammatically singular, taking the singular verb ei sano. However, because a society consists of multiple people, it is very common in Finnish to switch to the plural pronoun he (they) in subsequent clauses. This is a shift based on meaning rather than strict grammar.
What is the purpose of the ablative case in häneltä?
The verb ottaa (to take) requires the source you are taking something from to be in a 'from' case. When taking something from a person, you use the ablative case (-lta/-ltä), giving us häneltä. The word pois (away) is added to emphasize the removal, similar to 'took away' in English.
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