eivätkä

Eivätkä is a Finnish coordinating conjunction used to connect two negative clauses. It expresses a continuation of negation, similar to the English “and not” or “nor,” and is especially common when the subject appears to be the same in both clauses or when the second clause is elliptical (the verb may be omitted but understood).

The form is a combination of the plural negative verb form eivät (they do not) and the connective particle kä, resulting in eivätkä. It is typically used with plural subjects and two or more coordinated predicates or statements. In written Finnish a comma generally precedes eivätkä, linking the first and the following clause, much like other coordinating conjunctions.

Examples illustrate its use. He eivät tule tänään, eivätkä huomenna. This means “They are not coming today, nor tomorrow.” Another example: Nämä rakennukset eivät ole vanhoja, eivätkä kalliita, meaning “These buildings are not old, nor expensive.” In both cases the second clause can be partially ellipsed, with the verb implied from context (juoksevat, tulevat, etc.). Eivätkä is mainly found in formal or written registers but also occurs in spoken Finnish when listing negative statements.

Related forms include eikä and enkä, which coordinate negative clauses with singular subjects or with the conjunctions used in specific syntactic contexts. Eivätkä is thus a key tool for expressing multiple negations in a single sentence in Finnish.