Breakdown of Metsässä taitaa asua miljoona mehiläistä.
asua
to live
metsä
forest
miljoona
million
taitaa
to seem to, probably (does)
mehiläinen
bee
Questions & Answers about Metsässä taitaa asua miljoona mehiläistä.
Why is the verb taitaa in the singular when the subject is a million bees?
In Finnish, when the subject is a number (other than one) followed by a partitive noun, like miljoona mehiläistä, the verb must be in the third-person singular. Even though there are many bees, the grammatical subject is treated as a single block.
Why does the sentence start with metsässä (in the forest) instead of the bees?
This is an existential sentence (a "there is/there are" sentence). In Finnish, these typically start with the location (metsässä), followed by the verb, and end with the new information or subject being introduced (miljoona mehiläistä).
How does the verb taitaa work here?
Taitaa is a verb used to express an assumption, often translated as "I guess", "probably", or "might". It acts as an auxiliary verb and requires the following verb to be in its basic infinitive form, which is why we use asua (to live) right after it.
Learn Metsässä taitaa asua miljoona mehiläistä and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free