Breakdown of Ritari syytti herttuaa. Hän puhui maanpetoksesta kuninkaan puolesta.
hän
he / she
puhua
to speak
kuningas
king
syyttää
to accuse
puolesta
on behalf of, for
ritari
knight
herttua
duke
maanpetos
treason
Questions & Answers about Ritari syytti herttuaa. Hän puhui maanpetoksesta kuninkaan puolesta.
Who does hän refer to in the second sentence, and why?
Hän refers to the knight (ritari). In Finnish, when connecting sequential sentences, hän usually points back to the subject of the previous sentence. If the writer meant that the duke spoke of treason, they would have used tämä instead, as tämä points to the most recently mentioned person, which was the object.
Why is the duke (herttua) in the partitive case (herttuaa)?
The verb syyttää (to accuse) dictates the case of its object. The person being accused must always be in the partitive case, making it a fixed partitive verb.
Why is the word for treason (maanpetos) in the elative case (maanpetoksesta)?
When the verb puhua (to speak) is used to mean speaking 'about' something, the topic of conversation must be in the elative case (-sta / -stä).
How does the grammar in kuninkaan puolesta work?
The word puolesta is a postposition meaning 'on behalf of' or 'in favor of'. Like most Finnish postpositions, it requires the noun coming before it to be in the genitive case, which is why kuningas changes to kuninkaan.
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