Questions & Answers about Onko hänellä sisko?
Wait, where is the word for "have" in this sentence?
Finnish actually doesn't have a verb for "to have"! Instead, it uses a structure that literally means "on someone is something." To ask "Does she have a sister?", you are literally asking "Is (there) a sister on her?".
Why does the sentence start with onko instead of a word for "does"?
Finnish doesn't use helping words like "do" or "does" to make questions. Instead, it takes the verb—in this case, on (is)—and adds the question ending -ko. The word with the -ko ending is then moved to the very front of the sentence.
Why is the pronoun hänellä instead of just hän?
To create that "on someone is something" ownership structure, you must add the ending -lla or -llä (meaning "on" or "at") to the owner. The word hän (she/he) becomes hänellä (on her/on him).
How do I know if hänellä means "she has" or "he has"?
The Finnish word hän is entirely gender-neutral. Without extra context from a conversation, hänellä on can mean either "she has" or "he has". The English translation here uses "she" just to give you one of the correct options.
What would the normal statement "She has a sister" look like?
To make it a regular statement, you drop the question ending -ko and put the owner back at the start of the sentence: Hänellä on sisko.
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