Breakdown of Tohtori kirjoittaa artikkelin.
kirjoittaa
to write
artikkeli
the article
tohtori
doctor (academic title)
Questions & Answers about Tohtori kirjoittaa artikkelin.
Why is the word for article artikkelin with an -n at the end instead of just artikkeli?
In Finnish, the object of a sentence (the thing being acted upon) often takes the -n ending when the action is intended to be completed. Here, the doctor is going to write the entire article, so we use the total object form artikkelin. If they were just in the middle of writing it with no focus on finishing, we would use the partitive case: artikkelia.
This lesson is about past tense Type 3 verbs. Is kirjoittaa a Type 3 verb?
Actually, no! Kirjoittaa (to write) is a Type 1 verb because it ends in two vowels (-aa). It is also in the present tense here. If we wanted to change it to the past tense, we would drop the last vowel and add the past tense indicator -i, making it Tohtori kirjoitti artikkelin.
What is the difference between tohtori and lääkäri?
Lääkäri is the everyday word for a medical doctor or physician. Tohtori refers specifically to the academic title (like a PhD). However, just like in English, people sometimes use tohtori to refer to a medical professional as a title of respect.
Why isn't there a word for "The" before Tohtori?
Finnish does not have definite ("the") or indefinite ("a/an") articles. Tohtori can mean "A doctor" or "The doctor" depending entirely on the context of the conversation.
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