Breakdown of Hän ei sentään myöhästynyt junasta.
hän
he / she
ei
no / not (negative verb)
juna
train
myöhästyä
to be late
sentään
after all, at any rate
Questions & Answers about Hän ei sentään myöhästynyt junasta.
The lesson focuses on kuitenkaan. Why does this sentence use sentään, and what is the difference?
While both words express contrast in a negative sentence, sentään specifically adds a sense of relief or a silver lining, translating to 'at least' or 'at any rate'. Kuitenkaan simply states a neutral contrast to an expectation, meaning 'not after all'.
Does sentään change its form in negative sentences the way kuitenkin changes to kuitenkaan?
No, sentään stays exactly the same in both affirmative and negative sentences. Unlike kuitenkin, it does not have a separate negative polarity form.
Why is the word for train in the elative case (junasta)?
The verb myöhästyä (to be late, to miss) always requires the elative case (-sta or -stä). While English says you miss the train, Finnish logic expresses being left 'out of' the transport or event you were late for.
Why is sentään placed right after ei instead of at the end of the sentence like in English?
In Finnish, contrastive adverbs like sentään, kuitenkaan, and edes naturally attach right after the negative verb (ei). Placing them at the very end of the sentence usually sounds clunky or unnatural.
Learn Hän ei sentään myöhästynyt junasta 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