Breakdown of Avuttoman selviytyjän täytyy oppia kalastamaan.
oppia
to learn
täytyä
to have to
kalastaa
to fish
avuton
helpless
selviytyjä
survivor
Questions & Answers about Avuttoman selviytyjän täytyy oppia kalastamaan.
How does the adjective avuton turn into avuttoman here?
The word avuton (helpless) is a caritive adjective, meaning it describes being without something (help, or apu). When inflecting adjectives ending in -ton or -tön, you use the strong stem -ttoma- or -ttömä-. So, avuton becomes avuttoma-, and we add the genitive ending -n to get avuttoman.
Why are both avuttoman and selviytyjän in the genitive case rather than the nominative?
This is because of the necessity verb täytyy (must). Verbs expressing necessity require their subject to be in the genitive case. Since the noun selviytyjä takes the genitive ending -n, its modifying adjective avuton must agree with it and also take the genitive form.
Why do we use the form kalastamaan instead of the basic infinitive kalastaa?
The verb oppia (to learn) requires the following verb to be in the illative form of the third infinitive (the -maan or -mään form). In Finnish, you do not just learn to do something, you learn into doing it. So, kalastaa (to fish) becomes kalastamaan.
What is the structure behind the word selviytyjä?
It is a noun formed from the verb selviytyä (to survive, to cope). By adding the doer suffix -jä, it becomes selviytyjä, meaning a survivor or one who survives.
Learn Avuttoman selviytyjän täytyy oppia kalastamaan and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free