tehdä tenä

From tehdä (“to make, do”) + tenä (“hindrance, obstacle”).

tehdä tenä

1. to stop working (of a machine or device)

   En voinut soittaa, koska puhelimeni teki tenän.

   I could not call, because my telephone stopped working

2. to refuse to do something, to stop cooperating

   Tein tenän, kun hän pyysi minua sänkyyn.

   I refused, when he asked me to sleep with him.

See tehdä. tenä is normally in the accusative case (which appears as either the nominative or genitive case depending on the context), but is inflected in the partitive case to express an ongoing or incomplete action or if used in the negative.