Learn Finnish: Merirosvot etsivät arkkua laivasta. - The pirates are searching for the chest in the ship.

In Finnish, the verb etsiä (to search) requires the location to be in the mistä (from where) case, usually the elative ending -sta or -stä. Just as you leave or forget something into a place (illative) as you learned in this lesson, you look for something out of a place.

Why is the chest in the partitive case (arkkua)?

The verb etsiä always requires its object to be in the partitive case. Because searching is an ongoing action and you haven't found the object yet, Finnish treats the action as incomplete.

How does the word merirosvot break down?

It is a compound word made of meri (sea) and rosvo (robber or bandit). The -t at the end is the nominative plural marker, making it "pirates".

Could etsivät also mean "they search"?

Yes! Finnish does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. The present tense etsivät can translate to both "they search" and "they are searching" depending on the context.