Questions & Answers about Minulla on veli ja sisko.
How do you say I have in Finnish? I don't see a verb for have here.
Finnish doesn't actually have a verb that means to have! Instead, it uses a structure that literally translates to on me is. You take the word for I (minä), add the ending -lla to make it on me (minulla), and follow it with the verb on (is).
If the sentence is about me, why is the verb on (is) instead of olen (am)?
Because grammatically, you are not the subject doing an action here. Since the literal translation is On me is a brother and a sister, the things being owned are actually the subjects of the sentence. Therefore, the verb uses the third-person form (on).
Since I have two people (a brother and a sister), shouldn't the verb be the plural ovat (are)?
In Finnish possession sentences, the verb is almost always the singular on, even if you are listing multiple things that you have. It works similarly to saying There is a brother and a sister in English.
Where are the words for a in a brother and a sister?
Finnish does not have articles like a, an, or the. The word veli simply means brother, but translates naturally to a brother in English. The exact meaning is understood from the context of the sentence.