Word
Minun vanhempani asuvat Porvoossa.
Meaning
My parents live in Porvoo.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Minun vanhempani asuvat Porvoossa.
The current lesson teaches that we must use "hänen" with the 3rd person suffix. Do we have to use "minun" here?
No, for the 1st and 2nd person (my, your), the pronoun is optional. You can perfectly well just say Vanhempani asuvat Porvoossa. The 3rd person (his/her/their) is special because it strictly requires the genitive pronoun in standard Finnish, such as hänen vanhempansa.
The basic word for "parents" is vanhemmat. Why does the plural "-t" disappear in vanhempani?
Whenever you add a possessive suffix (like -ni, -si, or -nsa) to a word in the nominative plural, the plural -t marker drops out entirely.
If the plural "-t" drops, why does vanhemmat (with "mm") change to vanhempa- (with "mp") before adding -ni?
This is consonant gradation! The plural -t in vanhemmat closes the final syllable, which triggers the weak grade (mm). When that -t drops and is replaced by -ni, the syllable opens up (van-hem-pa-ni), so the strong grade (mp) returns.