Breakdown of Ne on jumissa hississä.
olla
to be
ne
they / those (non-human) / they (of people)
hissi
elevator
jumissa
stuck
Questions & Answers about Ne on jumissa hississä.
Why does the sentence use Ne instead of He for people?
In everyday spoken Finnish, ne is the standard way to say 'they', even when referring to people. The formal pronoun he is mostly reserved for written language or very formal speech.
If Ne means 'they', why is the verb on instead of ovat?
Spoken Finnish simplifies the third-person plural by pairing the pronoun ne with the singular verb form on. The standard written form would be He ovat, but you will hear Ne on constantly in real life.
How does the word jumissa translate to 'stuck'?
It comes from the noun jumi, which means a jam or blockage. By putting it in the inessive case (-ssa, meaning 'in'), Finnish creates a state of being. So, being jumissa literally means being 'in a jam' or 'stuck'.
Why are there two words ending in -ssa right next to each other (jumissa hississä)?
They are doing different grammatical jobs. Jumissa describes the abstract state the people are in ('stuck'), while hississä tells us the physical location ('in the elevator'). Finnish happily places these side by side to build the full meaning.
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