Word
Nuo opiskelijat ovat luokassa.
Meaning
Those students are in the classroom.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nuo opiskelijat ovat luokassa.
olla
to be
nuo
those (over there)
opiskelija
student
luokka
classroom
Questions & Answers about Nuo opiskelijat ovat luokassa.
Why is there only one k in luokassa when the basic word for class is luokka?
This is because of consonant gradation! When we add the ending -ssa (meaning in), it closes the final syllable. This forces the strong double consonant kk in luokka to weaken to a single k, giving us luokassa.
Why do we use nuo here instead of tuo?
Tuo means that (singular), while nuo means those (plural). Because the word it points to, opiskelijat (students), is plural, the pointing word has to match it.
How is the plural formed in opiskelijat?
The basic word for student is opiskelija. To make a basic plural (when it acts as the subject of the sentence), Finnish just adds a -t to the end of the word.
Why is the verb ovat used instead of on?
Ovat is the they form of the verb olla (to be). Since the subject is those students (which is a they), the verb must match the plural subject.