älköön

Finnish

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: äl‧köön
• IPA^(key): [ˈælkøːn]

Verb

älköön

1. (dated) The third-person singular form of the negation verb in imperative, may she/he not.

   • Juosko|on! (“May s/he run!”) → Älköön juosko! (“May s/he not run!”)

2. (dated) The third-person singular form of the negation verb in imperative, used with the impersonal connegative verb form, may one not:

   • Juostako|on! (“May one run!”) → Älköön juostako! (“May one not run!”)

Conjugation

• The negative verb has no infinitive form. The negative verb is conjugated only in person, not in tense or mood. (For the third person singular of the negative verb in the indicative, conditional and potential mood, see ei.)

	singular	plural
first person	—	(imperative) älkäämme
second person	(imperative) älä; (optative) ällös	(imperative) älkää
third person	(imperative) älköön	(imperative) älkööt

Usage notes

• When commanding a person outside the conversation, älköön is used with a connegative form of the main verb, ending with -ko/-kö, identical to the form used with third-person singular, first-person plural and second-person plural.

• When commanding an unidentified person or giving a general command not directed to someone specific, älköön is used with an impersonal imperative present connegative form of the main verb, which is constructed by dropping the two last letters from the impersonal imperative present form.

Palkinto annettakoon parhaalle laulajalle.

May the award be conferred upon the best singer.

Älköön palkintoa annettako parhaalle laulajalle.

May the award not be conferred upon the best singer.

• The third person singular of the negative imperative is nowadays a bit old-fashioned so it, primarily, pertains to ceremonious, very formal, archaic, poetic or religious contexts – i.e., positive imperative of this person (Juoskoon!) is, as the speaker's subjective wish, more common than the negative (Älköön juosko!).

• Also the impersonal imperative, both as positive and as negative, pertains to very old-fashioned style and, thus, it is primarily used in same kind of contexts as the personal negative imperatives of the third-person singular and plural and the first-person plural.