# kaivelee menneitä



## Gavril

What does this phrase mean? Tarkoitetaisiinko sillä "kaivelee menneisyyttä"?

K(iitos)


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## Foygl

Depending on the context, _kaivella_ may mean _to dig/to pick_ or _to bother_. In both cases it is a transitive verb and the object takes the partitive case. As there is no subject, the meaning must be _to dig _or _to pick_, and considering the object, which is _(the) past_, it will translate as _digs in the past_ (_digs_ because it's the third person singular in present tense)

Historioitsijat kaivelevat menneisyyttä
Historians dig in the past


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## Gavril

Foygl: thanks, but my question was, does _menneitä = __menneisyyttä_ in this context?

K


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## Grumpy Old Man

_Menneitä = menneitä, ehkä jo unohdettuja asioita_._

Menneitä_ is indeed more or less the same as _menneisyyttä_. It's the object of the verb _kaivelee._ The phrase _kaivelee menneitä_ is used if one mildly disapproves of a person talking about things long forgotten and really not worth remembering.


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