Breakdown of Koira istuu ulkona yhdeksän tuntia.
koira
dog
ulkona
outside
istua
to sit
yhdeksän
nine
tunti
hour
Questions & Answers about Koira istuu ulkona yhdeksän tuntia.
Why is tuntia in the singular partitive form instead of a plural form like 'hours' in English?
Where is the word for 'for' in this sentence?
Finnish doesn't use a separate word for 'for' when talking about durations of time. You simply state the amount of time, yhdeksän tuntia, and it naturally translates to 'for nine hours'.
Why doesn't the verb istuu change to a plural form since the dog is sitting for multiple hours?
The verb always matches the subject of the sentence. Here, the subject is koira (the dog), which is a single animal. Therefore, the verb takes the singular 'he/she/it' form, istuu. The phrase yhdeksän tuntia just tells us how long the action happens and doesn't affect the verb.
Does the word ulkona have a location ending attached to it?
Yes, the -na at the end of ulkona is an ending that describes a state of being (called the essive case). However, at this level, it is easiest to just memorize ulkona as a fixed vocabulary word meaning 'outside' or 'outdoors'.
Learn Koira istuu ulkona yhdeksän tuntia 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