Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Finnish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Hän on tohtori.
How do we change this sentence to the past tense to say 'He was a doctor'?
The verb olla (to be) is a Type 3 verb. To make it past tense, we take the consonant stem ol- and add the past tense marker -i. For the third-person singular (hän), there is no personal ending, so on becomes oli. The sentence would be Hän oli tohtori.
Does tohtori mean a medical doctor?
Usually, no. Tohtori refers to someone with a doctorate degree (a PhD) or is used as a formal academic title. If you want to talk about a medical doctor or physician, the word you need is lääkäri.
Would Finns normally say hän in everyday conversation?
In spoken Finnish, it is much more common to use se (it) for people instead of hän (he/she). So you would typically hear Se on tohtori in casual speech.
Why is tohtori in the basic form (nominative) and not the partitive case?
When describing what a single person or thing is using the verb olla, the describing noun is in the basic nominative form. If we were describing a plural subject like 'they are doctors' (He ovat tohtoreita), we would then use the partitive case.