Learn Finnish: Kissa ja koira ovat laivassa. - The cat and the dog are on the ship.

Kissa ja koira ovat laivassa.

The cat and the dog are on the ship.

Breakdown of Kissa ja koira ovat laivassa.

Questions & Answers about Kissa ja koira ovat laivassa.

Why does the word laivassa use the -ssa ending instead of -ssä?

This is because of vowel harmony. The root word is laiva (ship), which contains the back vowel a. Because of this back vowel, the ending must also use the back vowel a, making it -ssa.

The lesson says -ssa means 'in', but the English translation says 'on the ship'. Is this a mistake?

Not a mistake! While -ssa usually translates to 'in' (the inessive case), prepositions rarely match up perfectly between languages. In Finnish, you are 'in' a ship (laivassa) or a boat (veneessä), even though in English you say you are 'on' them.

Why is the verb ovat used here instead of on?

The subject of the sentence is kissa ja koira (cat and dog). Together, they form a plural subject ('they'). Because there is more than one animal, you must use the plural form of the verb olla (to be), which is ovat.

Where are the words for 'the' in this Finnish sentence?

Finnish does not have articles like 'the' or 'a'. Whether kissa means 'a cat' or 'the cat' is understood entirely from context. In this sentence, it translates to 'the cat' because the speaker is talking about specific animals.