Breakdown of Hänen täytyy ostaa uusi biljardikeppi.
hän
he / she
uusi
new
ostaa
to buy
täytyä
to have to
biljardikeppi
the pool cue
Questions & Answers about Hänen täytyy ostaa uusi biljardikeppi.
Why is uusi biljardikeppi in the nominative case instead of the genitive uuden biljardikepin?
This is a perfect example of object case inheritance. The main verb here is täytyy, which is a necessity verb. Necessity verbs require a total object to be in the nominative case. Even though the object is directly attached to the infinitive ostaa, it inherits the grammatical rule from the "boss" verb of the chain, täytyy.
How would this sentence change if the main verb wasn't a necessity verb, like if we used haluaa (wants to)?
If the main verb is a standard verb, the object case rule defaults back to the normal genitive (often called genitive-accusative) for total singular objects. The sentence would become Hän haluaa ostaa uuden biljardikepin. The subject would also flip back to the nominative Hän.
What if we make this sentence negative? Does the object case inheritance rule still apply?
No, the negative object rule overrides everything else! If we say "He doesn't have to buy...", the main verb becomes negative (ei tarvitse), forcing the object into the partitive case: Hänen ei tarvitse ostaa uutta biljardikeppiä.
Why does the sentence start with the genitive Hänen instead of the nominative Hän?
This is because of the necessity verb täytyy. In Finnish, the person or thing that "has to" do something must always be expressed in the genitive case when using verbs like täytyä, pitää, or tarvita.
Learn Hänen täytyy ostaa uusi biljardikeppi and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free