Breakdown of Mä tiiän, et usea opiskelija haluaa liittyä meiän kuoroon.
minä
I
me
we
opiskelija
student
tietää
to know
Questions & Answers about Mä tiiän, et usea opiskelija haluaa liittyä meiän kuoroon.
Why are usea opiskelija and the verb haluaa in the singular when the English translation says 'several students'?
In Finnish, the quantifiers usea (several) and moni (many) are typically used in the singular. When they are in the singular nominative case, the noun they describe (opiskelija) and the verb of the sentence (haluaa) must also be in the singular.
Is there a difference between using usea and moni in this sentence?
They are grammatically identical here, both keeping the following noun and verb in the singular. However, usea translates to 'several' (more than a couple, but usually fewer than 'many'), whereas moni specifically translates to 'many'.
What are the standard written language forms for the words tiiän, et, and meiän?
This sentence is written in spoken Finnish. The standard written forms are tiedän (I know), että (that), and meidän (our). In spoken language, the 'd' is often dropped, and että is heavily shortened to et.
Why is kuoro (choir) in the illative case (kuoroon)?