Breakdown of Kissa ei nuku sohvalla, se nukkuu lattialla.
kissa
cat
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
nukkua
to sleep
sohva
sofa
lattia
floor
Questions & Answers about Kissa ei nuku sohvalla, se nukkuu lattialla.
Both sohvalla and lattialla end in -lla. Why isn't it -llä?
This is because of vowel harmony. The root words sohva and lattia contain the back vowels o and a. When a word has back vowels, the ending must also use the back vowel a, making it -lla. You only use -llä if the word has front vowels (ä, ö, y) or only i and e.
Why is the first verb nuku but the second one is nukkuu?
In Finnish, negative sentences use a special verb form. After the negative word ei (does not), you must drop the personal ending from the verb. The positive form nukkuu (sleeps) loses its final vowel to become nuku.
Why does nukkuu have two k's but ei nuku only has one?
This is a rule called consonant gradation. The basic verb is nukkua (to sleep). In the positive third-person form, the double kk stays strong: se nukkuu. However, negative forms usually trigger the weak grade, meaning the double kk shrinks to a single k: ei nuku.
The sentence uses se for the cat. If I know the cat is male or female, can I use hän (he/she)?
In standard Finnish, se (it) is used for all animals and things, while hän (he/she) is strictly reserved for humans. So you should always use se for a cat, even if you know its gender.
Learn Kissa ei nuku sohvalla, se nukkuu lattialla and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free