Tere!
If I've understood correctly, ei is only used with finite verbs (eg. ma ei taha, ta ei räägi etc.) and mitte with non-finite verb forms and other parts of speech (eg. mitte suitsetada) and apparently sometimes as a prefix too (eg. mitteõppimine).
I started wondering about the following example sentence: Kas sa võid mitte vastata? Would it be possible to rephrase it using the ma-infinitive like this: Kas sa võid olla vastamata? In Finnish this would be correct (= "Voitko olla vastaamatta?"). In case this is not acceptable in Estonian, could you please give me an example on how the mata-infinitive is actually used?
Tänan juba ette!
If I've understood correctly, ei is only used with finite verbs (eg. ma ei taha, ta ei räägi etc.) and mitte with non-finite verb forms and other parts of speech (eg. mitte suitsetada) and apparently sometimes as a prefix too (eg. mitteõppimine).
I started wondering about the following example sentence: Kas sa võid mitte vastata? Would it be possible to rephrase it using the ma-infinitive like this: Kas sa võid olla vastamata? In Finnish this would be correct (= "Voitko olla vastaamatta?"). In case this is not acceptable in Estonian, could you please give me an example on how the mata-infinitive is actually used?
Tänan juba ette!