Questions & Answers about Isän koira on iso.
Why is there an -n at the end of isän?
That -n is the Finnish equivalent of the English 's (apostrophe S). It is the genitive case ending used to show possession. By adding -n to the basic word isä (father), it becomes isän (father's).
Does the owner always come before the thing they own?
Yes! The word order for ownership is exactly the same as in English. You put the owner first with its -n ending (isän), followed directly by the thing being owned (koira).
Why doesn't the adjective iso (big) get an -n ending to match?
Because iso describes the dog (koira), not the father. In this sentence, koira is the subject and is in its basic dictionary form (the nominative case). Finnish adjectives must match the word they describe, so iso stays in its basic form too.
How do we know it means "the father's" and not just "a father's"?
Finnish doesn't have articles like "a" or "the". The word isän can mean "father's", "the father's", or "a father's". You just have to figure out which one makes the most sense based on the context of the conversation!