Questions & Answers about Kuka sanoo ”ei”?
How is sanoo formed from its dictionary form?
The dictionary form is sanoa (to say). To find the stem of this Type 1 verb, we drop the final -a, leaving sano-. For the "he/she/it" form, we double the last vowel of the stem, giving us sanoo.
Why does kuka (who) use the sanoo (he/she says) form?
Just like in English where we say "Who says" (instead of "Who say"), the Finnish question word kuka acts as a singular subject. It takes the third-person singular verb form, exactly as if the subject were hän (he/she).
I thought ei was the negative verb for "doesn't". Can it just mean "no"?
Yes! While ei is indeed the third-person singular negative verb (meaning "he/she/it does not"), it is also the standard word for the exclamation "no". In this sentence, it is simply being quoted as the word "no".
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