Questions & Answers about Koira on siellä.
Why is there no word for 'the' in this sentence?
Finnish doesn't have articles like 'a' or 'the'. The word koira alone can mean 'a dog' or 'the dog' depending on the context.
How would I change this sentence to say 'The dogs are there' using the plural verbs from this lesson?
You would use the plural word for dogs, koirat, and the plural verb for 'are', ovat. The sentence becomes Koirat ovat siellä.
Is siellä the only way to say 'there' in Finnish?
Not quite! Siellä usually refers to a place you cannot currently see, like saying the dog is at home or in another room. If you were pointing at a dog you could actually see, you would use tuolla (over there).
If I wanted to replace the dog with a pronoun, which one would I use?
Because a dog is an animal, you would use the singular pronoun se (it) to say 'It is there': Se on siellä. If there were multiple dogs, you would use the plural pronoun ne (they for things/animals) and the plural verb ovat: Ne ovat siellä.
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