Breakdown of Missä ne ovat nyt?
olla
to be
missä
where
nyt
now
ne
they / those (non-human) / they (of people)
Questions & Answers about Missä ne ovat nyt?
Wait, doesn't he mean "they"? Why does this sentence use ne?
In standard written Finnish, he means "they" for humans, while ne means "they" or "those" for animals and things. This sentence is asking where certain things or animals are. However, it is good to know that in casual spoken Finnish, people almost always use ne for humans too!
Why is the verb ovat used here instead of on?
Because the subject is plural. The word ne means "they" or "those". Just like in English you say "they are" instead of "they is", in Finnish you must use the plural form ovat instead of the singular on.
Does the word missä (where) have anything to do with the word mikä (what)?
Yes! The word missä is actually the question word mikä with the -ssä ending attached to it. Because -ssä means "in", missä literally translates to "in what?", which is how you ask "where?" in Finnish.
Can I leave out the word ne and just say "Missä ovat nyt?"
No, you cannot. While Finnish lets you drop the pronoun for "I" and "you" (like minä and sinä), you must always include the third-person pronouns like se (it) and ne (they/those). Without ne, the sentence feels incomplete.