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Finnish

### Indirect Questions with Question Words

When you ask for information, make a complaint, or ask for an explanation, you often embed a specific question into a broader statement (for example, "I wonder *who* broke this" or "Explain to me *what* the problem is"). 

In Finnish, forming these indirect questions is straightforward. If the question uses a question word — such as **kuka** (who), **mikä** (what), **miksi** (why), **milloin** (when), **missä** (where), or **miten** (how) — you simply attach the question clause to the main sentence, separated by a comma. 

Because the question word already makes it clear that a question is being asked, you do **not** use the *-ko/-kö* clitic here.

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### Common Verbs and Word Order

Indirect questions are commonly paired with verbs related to communication and thought.

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The word order inside the embedded question clause generally remains exactly the same as it would be in a direct question: the question word comes immediately after the comma, usually followed by the subject and the verb.

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### Connecting Multiple Indirect Questions

If you want to ask or explain multiple things in the same sentence, you can link two indirect questions together with words like **ja** (and). 

The comma is placed before the first question word to separate the main clause from the questions, but you do not need an additional comma before the *ja*.

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Indirect questions with question words

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
to wonder	ihmetellä
I wonder who broke this new product.	Ihmettelen, kuka rikkoi tämän uuden tuotteen.
to explain	selittää
fault	vika
Explain to me what the fault is here.	Selitä minulle, mikä vika tässä on.
reason	syy
Can you explain what the reason for the problem is?	Voitko selittää, mikä ongelman syy on?
to take time	kestää
The customer wonders why this takes the whole day.	Asiakas ihmettelee, miksi tämä kestää koko päivän.
warranty	takuu
I want to ask when the warranty ends.	Haluan kysyä, milloin takuu loppuu.
to apologize	pahoitella
The manager apologizes and explains why the product is defective.	Johtaja pahoittelee ja selittää, miksi tuote on viallinen.
broken	rikki
Apologize and explain why the machine is broken!	Pahoittele ja selitä, miksi kone on rikki!
I asked the boss who pays the bill.	Kysyin pomolta, kuka maksaa laskun.
stain	tahra
I do not know why there is a big stain on the new rug.	En tiedä, miksi uudessa matossa on iso tahra.
We are wondering where the receipt is.	Ihmettelemme, missä kuitti on.
The seller does not understand how the machine works.	Myyjä ei ymmärrä, miten kone toimii.
I explained carefully where the fault is.	Selitin tarkasti, missä vika on.
I want to know how much the product costs.	Haluan tietää, paljonko tuote maksaa.
The customer wants to show where the stain is.	Asiakas haluaa näyttää, missä tahra on.
The customer asks why the new device is broken and what the reason is.	Asiakas kysyy, miksi uusi laite on rikki ja mikä syy on.
compensation	korvaus
I want to know how the warranty works and what the compensation is.	Minä haluan tietää, miten takuu toimii ja mikä korvaus on.
The seller explains why the work takes time and why the customer does not get compensation.	Myyjä selittää, miksi työ kestää ja miksi asiakas ei saa korvausta.
sorry (olla pahoillaan = to be sorry)	pahoillaan
I am sorry.	Minä olen pahoillaan.
He is sorry about the fault.	Hän on pahoillaan viasta.

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