Questions & Answers about Onko tämä koira teidän?
Why does the sentence start with Onko instead of Tämä?
To ask a yes/no question in Finnish, you take the verb, add the question ending -ko or -kö, and move it to the front of the sentence. Since on means "is", onko means "is it?" or in this case, "is this?".
The lesson is about the genitive ending -n for possession. Where is that ending here?
It is at the very end of teidän (your/yours). Just like adding -n to a name makes it possessive (like Anna becoming Annan), pronouns also use an -n ending to show ownership.
Doesn't teidän mean "your" for multiple people? What if I'm talking to one person?
If you are talking to one person informally, you would use sinun instead: Onko tämä koira sinun?. You use teidän when speaking to a group of people, or when being very polite and formal to one person. English uses "yours" for all of these situations.
Could I change the word order and say Onko tämä teidän koira?
Yes, you can! Finnish word order is flexible, but changing it slightly shifts the focus. Onko tämä koira teidän? translates to "Is this dog yours?" while Onko tämä teidän koira? is closer to "Is this your dog?".
Learn Onko tämä koira teidän and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free