Questions & Answers about Sakset ovat pienen pöydän alla.
Why is the verb ovat in the plural form?
Just like in English, the word for scissors (sakset) is always plural in Finnish. Because the subject is plural, the verb must also be the plural ovat instead of the singular on.
Why are pieni and pöytä in the genitive form (pienen pöydän)?
The word alla (under) is a postposition. In Finnish, postpositions usually require the noun phrase right before them to be in the genitive case (ending in -n).
Why does the adjective pieni change to pienen here?
Adjectives must match the case of the noun they describe. Since pöytä becomes pöydän (genitive case) to go with the postposition alla, the adjective pieni also has to take the genitive ending -n. Notice that old Finnish words ending in -i typically change the i to an e before adding endings, which is why it becomes pienen.
Why does pöytä change to pöydän with a d instead of a t?
This is an example of consonant gradation. Adding the genitive -n ending closes the final syllable, which forces the strong t in the basic word pöytä to soften into a weak d in pöydän.
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