Breakdown of Myyjä ei ymmärrä, miten kone toimii.
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
ymmärtää
to understand
miten
how (in what way)
myyjä
the salesperson
toimia
to function, to work / to act
kone
machine
Questions & Answers about Myyjä ei ymmärrä, miten kone toimii.
Why is there a comma before miten?
In Finnish, a comma separates the main sentence from a subordinate clause. Because the indirect question miten kone toimii acts as a subordinate clause, it must have a comma before it.
Does the word order change for the indirect question miten kone toimii?
No, it is very straightforward. You just use the question word miten followed by the regular subject and verb (kone toimii). You do not need to change the word order or add helper verbs like we do in English.
Why is the verb ymmärtää written as ymmärrä in this sentence?
It is in the negative form. After the negative word ei, you drop the personal ending from the verb. This also triggers consonant gradation, changing the strong -rt- in ymmärtää to the weak -rr- in ymmärrä.
Could I use kuinka instead of miten here?
Yes! Both miten and kuinka mean 'how' and are completely interchangeable in this type of indirect question.
Does toimii also mean 'works' if a person is working at their job?
No. The verb toimia means 'to work' only in the sense of a machine or system functioning. If a person is working, you would use työskennellä or tehdä töitä instead.
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