Breakdown of Voitko selittää, miten tämä teksti liittyy tehtävään?
Questions & Answers about Voitko selittää, miten tämä teksti liittyy tehtävään?
Voitko means “can you” or “are you able to.”
It is formed from:
- voida = to be able (to), can
- voit = you can (2nd person singular, present)
- -ko = question ending added to a word
So:
- voit
- -ko → voitko = can you?
The -ko/-kö ending turns the clause into a yes/no question or makes it sound more questioning/polite. Without -ko, voit selittää would be a statement: you can explain.
In Finnish, when you use a verb like voida (can, be able to), the second verb stays in the basic infinitive form (the same as the dictionary form).
- voit selittää = you can explain
- voit = you can (conjugated)
- selittää = to explain (infinitive)
If you said selität, that would be another finite verb and would make a separate sentence:
- Selität. = You explain. (a full statement on its own)
So voitko selittää literally is can you explain, and must stay in the infinitive here.