Questions & Answers about Pieni koira on hatussa.
Why does hatussa have only one 't', when the basic word for hat is hattu?
This is consonant gradation in action! Adding the -ssa ending closes the second syllable (ha-tus-sa). In Finnish, this causes strong double consonants to weaken. Here, the double tt simplifies into a single t.
How do we know whether to use -ssa or -ssä for 'in' here?
You have to look at the vowels in the base word to follow the rules of vowel harmony. Hattu has the vowels a and u, which are 'back vowels'. Therefore, it takes the back vowel ending -ssa instead of the front vowel ending -ssä.
Where is the word for 'the' in this sentence?
Finnish doesn't have articles like 'a' or 'the'. The sentence literally says 'Small dog is in hat.' As English speakers, we add 'the' to the translation because the context implies a specific dog and a specific hat.
Could I say Hatussa on pieni koira instead?
You could, but it changes the meaning slightly! Finnish uses word order to show what the focus is. Pieni koira on hatussa means 'The small dog is in the hat' (telling us where the dog is). Reversing it to Hatussa on pieni koira means 'There is a small dog in the hat' (introducing the dog as new information).