Questions & Answers about Mihin heidän bussinsa menee?
Why do we need both heidän and the -nsa suffix here?
In Finnish, third-person possessives like "his", "her", or "their" require double marking. You must include the genitive pronoun (heidän) before the word, and also attach the possessive suffix (-nsa or -nsä) to the end of it. This is different from first and second person, where the pronoun (like minun) can often be dropped.
Why does the suffix end in -a (bussinsa) instead of -ä?
This is because of vowel harmony. The word bussi contains the back vowel u. Because it has a back vowel, it requires the back-vowel version of the possessive suffix, which is -nsa.
Why is "where" translated as mihin instead of missä?
Mihin specifically means "where to", while missä means "where at" or "in where". Because the verb menee (goes) expresses movement toward a destination, you have to use the directional question word mihin.
Why is the verb menee singular if heidän means "their"?
The verb always matches the subject of the sentence. Here, the subject is the bus (bussi), which is singular. Heidän just tells us whose bus it is, but since there is only one bus doing the going, the verb takes the singular "it" form (menee).
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