Learn Finnish: Kuka on tuonut nämä työkalut?

Tuoda (to bring) is a Type 2 verb, which means it ends in two vowels. To form the active past participle for Type 2 verbs, you remove the final -a or -ä from the basic form and add -nut or -nyt. Because tuoda has back vowels (u, o, a), we add -nut to make tuonut.

The sentence is about bringing multiple tools (työkalut). Why is the verb on tuonut singular?

In Finnish, the verb always agrees with the subject of the sentence, not the object. The subject here is the question word kuka (who), which acts as a singular subject. Therefore, we use the singular helping verb on and the singular past participle tuonut. If the subject were plural, like he (they), it would be ovat tuoneet.

Why is the object nämä työkalut in the basic plural form (ending in -t) instead of the partitive case?

This is a great reminder of how objects work! The action of bringing the tools is complete, and all of these specific tools were brought (not just an undefined amount). Because it is a completed action with a plural object, we use the plural total object form, which looks exactly like the basic nominative plural ending in -t.

Is työkalut a compound word?