Questions & Answers about Missä nämä pienet pöydät ovat?
Why do we use nämä instead of tämä here?
tämä means 'this' for a single thing, while nämä means 'these' for multiple things. Because the noun is the plural pöydät (tables), we must use the plural demonstrative pronoun to match it.
How does the word pieni (small) become pienet?
Adjectives must match the nouns they describe. Since the tables are plural, the adjective must be plural too. For older Finnish words ending in -i like pieni, the -i usually changes to an -e- before adding the plural -t ending.
Why does pöytä (table) change to pöydät instead of just 'pöytät'?
This happens because of a rule called consonant gradation. Adding the plural -t ending closes the final syllable of the word. When that happens, the strong -t- in the middle of pöytä weakens into a -d-.
Why is ovat (are) placed at the very end of the sentence?
In Finnish questions that start with a question word like missä (where), the subject usually comes before the verb. The entire phrase nämä pienet pöydät (these small tables) acts as the subject here, so the verb ovat is placed right after it.