Breakdown of Ne ei varmasti koske tohon pupuun!
tuo
that
ne
they / those (non-human) / they (of people)
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
koskea
to touch
varmasti
certainly, surely
pupu
bunny
Questions & Answers about Ne ei varmasti koske tohon pupuun!
Why are tohon and pupuun in the illative case here instead of the partitive?
The verb koskea changes meaning depending on the case it governs. When it means to physically touch something, it takes the illative case, like tohon pupuun. If it took the partitive case (tota pupua), it would mean to concern or apply to the bunny.
Why is the singular negative verb ei used here with the plural pronoun ne?
In spoken Finnish, it is a very strict rule to use the third-person singular verb form with the plural pronoun ne. So instead of the written standard he eivät koske or ne eivät koske, you will almost always hear ne ei koske.
What is the standard Finnish equivalent of the word tohon?
It is tuohon, which is the illative case of the demonstrative pronoun tuo (that). In spoken Finnish, the diphthong often simplifies and the word shrinks, turning tuohon into tohon.
Would the negative verb form koske change if the sentence meant 'They certainly do not concern that bunny'?
No, the verb itself remains exactly the same. After the negative verb ei, we always use the connegative stem koske. Only the object's case reveals the meaning, so you would just change the object to the partitive tota pupua to change the meaning of the verb from touching to concerning.
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