To ask open-ended questions, Finnish puts a question word at the beginning of the sentence.
Question Word Order
In short questions with the verb olla (to be), the word order differs slightly from English. The question word comes first, followed by the subject, and the verb goes at the end.
- English: Who is he?
- Finnish: Kuka hän on? (Who he is?)
Kuka (Who)
Use kuka to ask about a person.
| Who is he? | Kuka hän on? |
| Who is the teacher? | Kuka opettaja on? |
You can combine question words with demonstratives like tämä (this) or tuo (that) and adjectives.
| Who is that man? | Kuka tuo mies on? |
| Who is that new student? | Kuka tuo uusi opiskelija on? |
Mikä (What)
Use mikä to ask about objects, animals, or concepts.
| What is this? | Mikä tämä on? |
As in English, you can place a noun directly after the question word to ask "what [noun]".
| What word is that? | Mikä sana tuo on? |
| What is this bad word? | Mikä tämä huono sana on? |
Missä (Where)
Use missä to ask about location.
| Where is the city? | Missä kaupunki on? |
| Where is the bag? | Missä laukku on? |
If you are asking about multiple subjects, use the plural verb ovat (are).
| Where are the cat and the dog? | Missä kissa ja koira ovat? |
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