Word
Paroni luotti herttuaan. Tämä kuitenkin kavalsi hänet.
Meaning
The baron trusted the duke. The latter, however, betrayed him.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Paroni luotti herttuaan. Tämä kuitenkin kavalsi hänet.
tämä
this
hän
he / she
luottaa
to trust
kuitenkin
however
Questions & Answers about Paroni luotti herttuaan. Tämä kuitenkin kavalsi hänet.
Why is Tämä used here to mean 'The latter' instead of just using Hän?
In Finnish text cohesion, when two people are introduced in a sentence, hän in the following sentence defaults to the original subject (the baron). To refer to the last mentioned person (the duke), you use tämä (literally 'this'). If the second sentence had started with Hän, it would imply the baron did the betraying!
Who exactly does hänet refer to at the end of the sentence?
hänet refers back to the original subject, the baron. Because the duke took over as the subject of the second sentence via Tämä, using hänet as the object safely points back to the baron without any confusion.
Why is 'the duke' in the illative case (herttuaan) rather than the partitive or accusative?
The verb luottaa (to trust) always requires the illative case (the 'into' case). In Finnish, you don't trust a person directly; you trust 'into' them.
What is the dictionary form of kavalsi, and why does it have an 's'?