Breakdown of Onko hotellissa kuusikymmentä huonetta?
olla
to be
hotelli
hotel
huone
room
kuusikymmentä
sixty
Questions & Answers about Onko hotellissa kuusikymmentä huonetta?
Why does the sentence start with Onko instead of a word for 'there'?
Finnish doesn't use a word like 'there' for 'there is' or 'there are' sentences. Instead, statements usually start with the location, like hotellissa on (in the hotel is). To make it a yes/no question, you put the verb first and add the question ending -ko. That gives us Onko hotellissa (Is there in the hotel).
Since 'sixty rooms' is plural, why is the verb Onko singular instead of the plural Ovatko?
When you talk about things existing in a place, Finnish always uses the singular verb on (is), even if there are many things. Because this rule still applies to questions, we use the singular Onko rather than the plural Ovatko.
Why is the word for room written as huonetta?
Why does the number sixty (kuusikymmentä) end in -tä?