Questions & Answers about Toinen tyttö laulaa.
Why doesn't toinen have any special case endings here?
In this sentence, tyttö is the subject, so it is in the basic dictionary form (the nominative case). Because of adjective agreement, the word describing it (toinen) must match this case. Since tyttö has no special ending, toinen remains in its basic form too.
Doesn't toinen mean 'second'? Why does the translation say 'other'?
Toinen is a very handy word that can mean both 'second' and 'other' (or 'another'). You can usually tell which one it is from the context. If you were counting a group, it could mean 'the second girl', but in everyday speech it often just means 'the other girl'.
Why is there no word for 'the' in the Finnish sentence?
Finnish does not have articles like 'the' or 'a'. You just say toinen tyttö and figure out from the context whether it means 'the other girl' or 'another girl'.
Why does laulaa end with a double a?
When we use a verb for a 'he', 'she', or 'it' subject (like tyttö), Finnish verbs usually double their final vowel in the present tense. The verb stem for 'to sing' is laula-, so doubling that last vowel gives us laulaa.
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