Learn Finnish: Kreivi vihasi herttuaa. Hän halusi teloittaa tämän. - The count hated the duke. He wanted to execute the latter.

Kreivi vihasi herttuaa. Hän halusi teloittaa tämän.

The count hated the duke. He wanted to execute the latter.

Breakdown of Kreivi vihasi herttuaa. Hän halusi teloittaa tämän.

Questions & Answers about Kreivi vihasi herttuaa. Hän halusi teloittaa tämän.

Why does the second sentence use tämän instead of hänet?

In Finnish, when a previous sentence mentions two people, hän refers back to the subject (the count), and tämä refers to the other person just mentioned (the duke). Using tämän clearly shows that the count wants to execute the duke. If you used hänet in a new sentence, it might be ambiguous or imply a third person not yet mentioned.

If I wanted to say that the DUKE wanted to execute the count, how would the second sentence start?

You would start the second sentence with Tämä. Because the duke was the object (not the subject) of the first sentence, tämä picks him up as the new topic. The sentence would become Tämä halusi teloittaa hänet (The latter wanted to execute him).

Why is the duke referred to in the partitive (herttuaa) in the first sentence, but the genitive-accusative (tämän) in the second?

The case of the object depends on the verb. Vihata (to hate) expresses an ongoing emotion and always requires the partitive case, hence herttuaa. However, teloittaa (to execute) is a completed action, so it takes a total object. Since the object is the pronoun tämä, it takes the genitive-looking accusative form tämän.

What if I combined these into one sentence with ja (and)? Would I still use tämän?