Word
Nyt voit pussittaa valkoisen pallon.
Meaning
Now you can pot the white ball.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nyt voit pussittaa valkoisen pallon.
nyt
now
valkoinen
white
voida
can, to be able to
pussittaa
to pot
Questions & Answers about Nyt voit pussittaa valkoisen pallon.
Why is the object valkoisen pallon in the genitive-looking accusative case, even though it belongs to the infinitive pussittaa?
In a predicate chain like voit pussittaa (you can pot), the object rules are inherited from the main conjugated verb. Because the finite verb voit has a personal subject (the implied "you" from the -t ending), the object takes the standard total object case: the -n accusative.
How would the object change if the main verb was a necessity verb, like täytyy (must)?
If you changed the sentence to "I must pot..." (Minun täytyy pussittaa...), the object would change to the basic nominative case: valkoinen pallo. Necessity structures never take an -n accusative object, and this rule is inherited all the way down the predicate chain to the infinitive's object.
Could I use the partitive case (valkoista palloa) here instead?
Only if you want to change the meaning to an incomplete, ongoing, or attempted action. Using the accusative valkoisen pallon tells us the action is bounded and successful: you will definitively sink the entire ball into the pocket.
The English translation says "to pot". How is the Finnish verb pussittaa built?