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Questions & Answers about Ne on kihloissa.
Why does this sentence use ne instead of he for people?
In standard written Finnish, he means "they" for people and ne is for things or animals. But in spoken Finnish (puhekieli), native speakers almost always use ne for people, too.
Why is the verb on singular when the subject ne means "they"?
This is a very common rule in spoken Finnish! When you use the pronoun ne, the verb always takes the third-person singular form, exactly like it does for se. So instead of the standard he ovat (they are), you say ne on (literally "they is").
Why does kihloissa end in -ssa?
It is in the inessive case, which is the "in" case. The base noun is the plural word kihlat (engagement). Finnish often treats states of being as a place you are "inside" of, so olla kihloissa literally means "to be in an engagement." You see the exact same pattern with naimisissa (married).
How would I say "they get engaged" using this same colloquial style?
You would say ne menee kihloihin. To express "getting" into a state, Finnish uses the verb mennä (to go) and the illative ("into") case. You go into the engagement (kihloihin), and then you are in the engagement (kihloissa).