Huoli vaivasi häntä koko yön.

he/she

Breakdown of Huoli vaivasi häntä koko yön.

• yö: the night
• koko: all (whole, entire)
• huoli: the worry

Questions & Answers about Huoli vaivasi häntä koko yön.

What does huoli mean here, and why is it in the basic form?

Huoli means worry, concern, or anxiety.

Here it is in the nominative singular basic form because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing doing the bothering.

So in:

Huoli vaivasi häntä koko yön.

the structure is basically:

• Huoli = the worry
• vaivasi = bothered / troubled
• häntä = him / her
• koko yön = all night / for the whole night

So huoli is not something being worried about here; it is the thing that is affecting the person.

What form is vaivasi?

Vaivasi is the past tense (imperfect) of the verb vaivata.

• dictionary form: vaivata
• past tense, 3rd person singular: vaivasi

So:

• vaivaan = I bother / trouble
• vaivaa = he/she/it bothers / troubles
• vaivasi = he/she/it bothered / troubled

In this sentence, huoli is singular, so the verb is also 3rd person singular:

• Huoli vaivasi... = Worry bothered...