Breakdown of Paroni syrjäytti kuninkaan. Hän otti valtaistuimen kreivin sijasta.
hän
he / she
ottaa
to take
kuningas
king
sijasta
instead of (+ noun)
Questions & Answers about Paroni syrjäytti kuninkaan. Hän otti valtaistuimen kreivin sijasta.
Who exactly does hän refer to here, the baron or the king?
It refers to the baron (paroni). In Finnish, when two people are mentioned in a previous sentence, hän refers back to the subject. If the writer wanted to say the king took the throne, they would use tämä to refer to the object, since the king was the last person mentioned.
The verb syrjäytti seems to have a recognizable root. What is its literal meaning?
It comes from the noun syrjä, which means edge or margin. The verb syrjäyttää literally means to push someone to the edge. In political contexts, it translates to depose, supplant, or overthrow.
Why does kreivi take the genitive ending in kreivin sijasta?
sijasta is a postposition meaning instead of, and like most postpositions, it requires the noun before it to be in the genitive case. Since the root word sija means place or position, kreivin sijasta literally translates to from the position of the count.
As a quick refresher, why are the objects kuninkaan and valtaistuimen in the genitive-looking accusative form?
They are total objects. Using the accusative form here shows that the actions were successfully completed: the king was fully deposed, and the throne was completely taken. If the action were only an attempt or was still ongoing, you would use the partitive case.