Learn Finnish: Hotellissa on kaksikymmentäneljä huonetta. - There are twenty-four rooms in the hotel.

Hotellissa on kaksikymmentäneljä huonetta.

There are twenty-four rooms in the hotel.

Breakdown of Hotellissa on kaksikymmentäneljä huonetta.

Questions & Answers about Hotellissa on kaksikymmentäneljä huonetta.

How do you build the word kaksikymmentäneljä (twenty-four) and why is it written as one word?

In Finnish, compound numbers are written together as one long word. It breaks down literally into "two tens four": kaksi (two) + kymmentä (the partitive form of ten) + neljä (four).

Why does the sentence start with Hotellissa (in the hotel) instead of a word for "there"?

Finnish doesn't use a word like "there" for "there is / there are" sentences. Instead, the standard pattern is to put the location first (Hotellissa), then the verb (on), and finally the thing that exists in that location.

If there are 24 rooms, why do we use the singular verb on (is) instead of the plural ovat (are)?

In Finnish "there is / there are" sentences, the verb is always the singular on. The verb does not become plural just because there are multiple things.

Why is the word for room huonetta instead of the basic form huone?

Any number greater than one makes the following noun take the partitive case. So, after the number kaksikymmentäneljä, we must use huonetta (the partitive singular of huone) instead of the basic dictionary form.