Word
Poljin vaurioitui, kun pyörä kaatui.
Meaning
The pedal was damaged when the bicycle fell over.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Poljin vaurioitui, kun pyörä kaatui.
kun
when
pyörä
the bicycle
kaatua
to fall
poljin
the pedal
Questions & Answers about Poljin vaurioitui, kun pyörä kaatui.
What verb form is vaurioitui?
Vaurioitui is the 3rd person singular past tense of vaurioitua, which means to get damaged or to become damaged.
So:
- vaurioitua = to get damaged
- vaurioitui = got damaged / became damaged
It is not a passive form. The subject is poljin, so the sentence says that the pedal was the thing that became damaged.
Why is poljin in the basic form and not in some other case?
Poljin is the subject of the main clause, so it appears in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form.
In Poljin vaurioitui:
- poljin = the pedal
- vaurioitui = got damaged
This works much like English: The pedal got damaged.
Because the pedal is the thing that underwent the change, Finnish uses it as the subject, not as an object.
Is vaurioitua like a reflexive verb, as if the pedal damaged itself?