Learn Finnish: Paljonko pelimerkkejä on vielä jäljellä?

When a sentence starts with a quantity word like paljonko (how much/many) followed by a partitive word, Finnish grammar treats the whole phrase as a single uncountable mass. Therefore, the verb takes the third-person singular form on instead of the plural ovat.

Why is pelimerkkejä in the partitive plural?

It follows the question word paljonko, and words expressing a quantity require the noun they measure to be in the partitive case. Because tokens are countable items, we use the partitive plural. If it were an uncountable substance, we would use the partitive singular.

Where does the word jäljellä come from?

It is the adessive case (ending in -llä) of the noun jälki, which means a mark, track, or trace. Using jäljellä is the standard, idiomatic way in Finnish to say that something is remaining or left over.

If I wanted to use the current lesson's vocabulary to ask how many tokens each one has left, how would I add kukin to this sentence?

You would use the adessive form of kukin, which is kullakin. This is because expressing possession (someone having something) in Finnish requires the adessive case. The sentence would become: Paljonko kullakin on vielä pelimerkkejä jäljellä? (How many tokens does each one still have left?).