Breakdown of Koulussa on yhdeksäntoista opettajaa ja yhdeksänkymmentä opiskelijaa.
olla
to be
ja
and
opettaja
teacher
opiskelija
student
koulu
school
yhdeksäntoista
nineteen
yhdeksänkymmentä
ninety
Questions & Answers about Koulussa on yhdeksäntoista opettajaa ja yhdeksänkymmentä opiskelijaa.
How does the word yhdeksäntoista translate to nineteen?
In Finnish, the numbers 11 through 19 are formed by taking the base number and adding -toista. Yhdeksän means nine, and toista roughly means 'of the second'. So, yhdeksäntoista literally means 'nine of the second ten'.
What is the difference between the number endings -toista and -kymmentä?
While -toista is used for the teen numbers (11-19), the ending -kymmentä is used to make multiples of ten (20, 30, 90, etc.). It literally means tens. So yhdeksänkymmentä means nine tens, or ninety.
Why do the words for teachers and students end in -a or -aa (opettajaa, opiskelijaa)?
In Finnish, any number greater than one must be followed by a noun in the partitive case. Opettaja (teacher) becomes opettajaa, and opiskelija (student) becomes opiskelijaa. Notice that we use the partitive singular form here, even though in English we translate them as plural teachers and students.
Why does the sentence use on (is) instead of ovat (are) when talking about many people?
This is a classic Finnish existential sentence, which is used to say that something exists in a specific location. When you start a sentence with a location like Koulussa (In the school), the verb is always the singular on, no matter how many things or people come after it.
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