Question 1

Why is the pronoun hänen in the genitive case, and why does it come after the verb here?

Accepted Answer

In the tekee mieli (feels like) construction, the person experiencing the desire must be in the genitive case. Because this is a yes/no question, the verb tekee takes the question particle -kö and must move to the very beginning of the sentence, pushing hänen to the second spot.

Question 2

Why is the verb tekee in the third-person singular if the sentence is about 'he'?

Accepted Answer

In this construction, 'he' (hänen) is not the grammatical subject; the word mieli (mind) is. The literal translation is 'Does his mind make sleeping?'. Because mieli is the grammatical subject, the verb is always locked in the third-person singular regardless of who is experiencing the feeling.

Question 3

Can I attach the question particle to the pronoun instead, like Hänenkö tekee mieli nukkua?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but it changes the meaning. Attaching -kö to hänen shifts the focus to the person. Hänenkö tekee mieli nukkua? means 'Is it he who feels like sleeping?' rather than just asking a general question about his state.

Question 4

Why do we use the basic form nukkua here?

Accepted Answer

When you feel like doing an action, the tekee mieli structure requires the verb to be in the first infinitive (the dictionary form). If he felt like having a thing instead of doing an action, you would use a noun in the partitive case, such as in the sentence Tekeekö hänen mieli kahvia? (Does he feel like coffee?).

Question 5

How would you typically hear this in casual spoken Finnish?

Accepted Answer

You will often hear the pronoun hänen replaced by the spoken genitive form sen. The verb and question particle might also be shortened, resulting in a phrase like Tekeeks sen mieli nukkua?

Tekeekö hänen mieli nukkua?

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