eiköhän
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Finnish
Etymology
eikö (indicating a negative question) + -hän (indicating uncertainty)
Pronunciation
Adverb
eiköhän
- Indicates that the speaker expects something to be the case.
- Etköhän jo ymmärtänyt sen.
- You should have already understood it.
- Eiköhän tämä riitä tältä erää.
- This ought to be enough for now.
- Indicates that the speaker thinks the following proposition is possible or desirable, a bit like in the English expression "how about..." or "why don't we...".
- Eiköhän mennä jonnekin syömään? --Eiköhän se onnistu.
- Let's go somewhere to eat. --I don't see why it would not be possible.
- Indicates hesitation.
- Kuinka monta olutta joit? -Eiköhän se ollut kahdeksan.
- How many beers did you drink? -I'd believe I had eight.
- Ketä on pidetty vankina Elballa ja St. Helenalla? --Eiköhän se ole Napoleon?
- Who has been held prisoner on Elba and on St. Helena? --It's Napoleon, isn't it?
Usage notes
As can be seen from the examples, there's no one English translation for eiköhän. The translation depends very much on the idea the speaker wants to convey.
Inflection
person indicative mood 1st sing. enköhän 2nd sing. etköhän 3rd sing. eiköhän 1st plur. emmeköhän 2nd plur. etteköhän 3rd plur. eivätköhän