Breakdown of Onko lapsella koira? Ei, lapsella ei ole lemmikkiä.
olla
to be
koira
dog
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
lapsi
child
lemmikki
pet
Questions & Answers about Onko lapsella koira? Ei, lapsella ei ole lemmikkiä.
Why is koira in its basic form, but lemmikkiä gets an extra -ä?
This is the main rule for expressing what you have! In a positive sentence like lapsella on koira, the thing owned (koira) stays in its basic form (nominative). But when you don't have something, that thing must be in the partitive case. So, the basic word lemmikki (pet) becomes lemmikkiä.
Why does the question start with Onko instead of Lapsella?
To turn a possession statement into a yes/no question, you take the verb on (is), attach the question ending -ko, and put it at the very front of the sentence. The possessor (lapsella) is placed right after it.
How do we get lapsella from the basic word lapsi (child)?
Many older Finnish words ending in -i change that -i to an -e- before an ending is attached. Here, lapsi becomes the stem lapse-, and then we add the -lla ending to show who has the thing.
Why is the negative verb ei ole used here?
In the Finnish "have" structure, the verb is always frozen in the 3rd-person singular. The negative phrase "does not have" is always ei ole. It never changes to match the person, so it is exactly the same whether it is minulla ei ole (I don't have) or lapsella ei ole (the child doesn't have).
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