To ask a yes/no question in Finnish, you do not raise your voice at the end and you do not add a "do" and flip the word order the way English does. You attach one syllable — the clitic -ko/-kö — to the word you are asking about, and move that word to the front. The clitic does all the work; the rest of the sentence stays exactly as it was.
The default: -ko/-kö on the verb
In a neutral yes/no question you are asking whether the action is happening, so the clitic attaches to the finite verb, which then stands first in the sentence.
| Statement | Question | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Sinä tulet. | Tuletko sinä? | Are you coming? |
| Sinä puhut suomea. | Puhutko sinä suomea? | Do you speak Finnish? |
| Sinä menet kotiin. | Menetkö sinä kotiin? | Are you going home? |
Tuletko sinä huomenna juhliin?
Are you coming to the party tomorrow?
Onko sinulla hetki aikaa?
Do you have a moment?
Syötkö sinä lihaa vai oletko kasvissyöjä?
Do you eat meat, or are you vegetarian?
Notice there is no separate word for "do". Puhutko is a complete question all by itself; the subject pronoun sinä is often dropped because the verb ending already tells you who is being asked.
Vowel harmony: -ko after back, -kö after front
The clitic obeys vowel harmony. Use -ko after a host word that contains a back vowel (a, o, u), and -kö after a host that has front vowels (ä, ö, y) or only the neutral vowels e and i.
| -ko (back) | -kö (front / neutral) |
|---|---|
| Puhutko? | Menetkö? |
| Onko? | Syötkö? |
| Asutko? | Teitkö? |
Focus: the clitic can leave the verb
Here is the insight most textbooks bury: -ko/-kö marks focus, not merely "questionhood". It attaches to whatever you are really asking about. Put it on the verb and you ask whether the action happens; put it on another word and you ask about that word, holding the rest as given.
Tuletko sinä autolla?
Are you coming by car? (asking whether the coming happens by car)
Sinäkö tulet autolla?
Is it YOU who's coming by car?
Autollako sinä tulet?
Is it by car that you're coming?
All three questions contain the same words. Only the clitic moves — and with it, the point of the question. This is a resource English can only imitate with heavy stress ("is it YOU who…") or clefting ("is it by car that…"). See the dedicated page on focus questions with -ko.
Answering: echo the verb
A Finnish yes/no question is normally answered not with a bare "yes"/"no" but by repeating the finite verb — affirmative for yes, negative for no. There is no obligatory kyllä ("yes") the way English needs "yes"; the verb itself is the answer.
Tuletko juhliin? — Tulen. / En tule.
Are you coming to the party? — Yes (I'm coming). / No (I'm not).
Onko tuo sinun autosi? — On. / Ei ole.
Is that your car? — Yes (it is). / No (it isn't).
You can add kyllä or joo ("yeah") for warmth, but the echoing verb is what carries the answer. More on this on the yes/no question page.
Common Mistakes
❌ Sinä tulet? (marked only by rising intonation)
Incorrect as neutral Finnish — a yes/no question needs the clitic.
✅ Tuletko sinä?
Are you coming?
❌ Puhut sinä suomea?
Incorrect — the clitic must be attached; there is no 'do'-support word order.
✅ Puhutko sinä suomea?
Do you speak Finnish?
❌ Menetko sinä kotiin?
Incorrect — a front-vowel host takes -kö: menetkö.
✅ Menetkö sinä kotiin?
Are you going home?
❌ Sinäkö tulet? (meaning a plain 'are you coming?')
Incorrect for a neutral question — putting -kö on the pronoun asks 'is it YOU?'
✅ Tuletko sinä?
Are you coming?
Key Takeaways
- A yes/no question is made with the clitic -ko/-kö, not with intonation or a "do" word.
- The clitic normally attaches to the verb, which moves to the front: Tuletko?, Onko?, Menetkö?
- Harmony: -ko after back-vowel hosts, -kö after front or purely neutral (e/i) hosts.
- It marks focus: move it off the verb (Sinäkö? Autollako?) and you shift what the question is about.
- Answer by echoing the verb: Tulen / En tule — no obligatory yes/no word.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Yes/No Questions by Type: Tuletko? Onko sinulla?A1 — The four kinds of yes/no question in Finnish — verb, existential, possessive and identity — and the case each one needs on its parts.
- Moving -ko to the Focused WordB1 — In Finnish the question clitic -ko/-kö marks focus: attach it to whatever word you are really asking about, and the point of the question moves with it.
- Where Clitics Attach: The Focused WordB1 — A Finnish clitic attaches to the focused word, usually fronted, after all case and possessive endings. Its position, not stress, is what marks focus.
- Clitic Particles: An OverviewA2 — An overview of Finnish enclitic particles — -ko/-kö, -kin, -kaan/-kään, -han/-hän, -pa/-pä, -s — how they attach, harmonize, and stack.