En pidä valkoisesta pöydästä, koska se likaantuu helposti.

I

Breakdown of En pidä valkoisesta pöydästä, koska se likaantuu helposti.

• pöytä: the table
• koska: because
• se: it
• pitää: to like
• ei: not
• valkoinen: white
• likaantua: to get dirty
• helposti: easily

Questions & Answers about En pidä valkoisesta pöydästä, koska se likaantuu helposti.

Why are both the adjective and the noun in “valkoisesta pöydästä” in the elative case, rather than using the nominative or accusative?

In Finnish, when expressing likes or dislikes with verbs such as pidä (“to like”), it’s common to mark the thing you like/dislike with the elative case. Since the noun pöytä (“table”) takes the elative form pöydästä, the modifying adjective valkoinen (“white”) must also adopt the elative ending, becoming valkoisesta. This agreement clearly shows that both words form a single, case-marked unit expressing the specific object of opinion.

Why does the sentence begin with “En pidä” instead of directly negating the verb?

Finnish uses a dedicated negative auxiliary verb. In this case, en serves as the first-person singular negative auxiliary, so the sentence starts with En pidä (“I don’t like”). The main verb pidä remains in its positive form, and the negation is entirely conveyed by the auxiliary. This is a standard way to express negation in Finnish.

What is the function of the clause “koska se likaantuu helposti,” and what does each word contribute to its meaning?

The clause koska se likaantuu helposti explains the reason for the dislike. Here, koska means because, introducing a causal clause. Se is a pronoun meaning it (referring back to the table). Likaantuu is the reflexive form of the verb likaantua, which means to become dirty, and helposti means easily. Together, the clause tells us that the table gets dirty easily, which is why the speaker dislikes it.

What does the reflexive form “likaantuu” signify in this sentence, and why is it used?

Likaantuu is the reflexive form of likaantua (“to become dirty”). Using the reflexive here emphasizes that the table tends to dirty itself without any external agent—the process is inherent to its state or appearance. The ending -uu shows that the verb is in the third person singular present tense. This construction is common in Finnish for describing natural tendencies or states.

How does the structure of this Finnish sentence differ from the equivalent English sentence?

There are a few notable differences. First, Finnish expresses negation with a separate auxiliary verb (en), so instead of saying “I don’t like,” you see En pidä with the main verb left positive. Second, the object (the table) is marked with a case ending (the elative -stä) rather than relying solely on word order, which is typical in English. Finally, the reason clause is introduced by koska (“because”) and follows the main clause, highlighting the language’s reliance on inflection and case to indicate grammatical relationships rather than on fixed word order as in English.