Koira ja kissa ovat täällä.

The dog and the cat are here.

Breakdown of Koira ja kissa ovat täällä.

• olla: to be
• koira: the dog
• kissa: the cat
• ja: and
• täällä: here

Questions & Answers about Koira ja kissa ovat täällä.

Why is it ovat instead of on?

In Finnish, on is used for the third person singular ("he/she/it is"), whereas ovat is used for the third person plural ("they are"). Since we have two subjects (koira and kissa), we need the plural form ovat.

Why is there no word for "the" before koira and kissa?

Finnish does not use articles like "the" or "a/an." The words koira and kissa can mean "a dog," "the dog," or simply "dog" depending on context. The sentence context clarifies whether we’re talking about specific animals or just animals in general.

How do I distinguish between singular and plural subjects in Finnish if there’s no separate article?

Singular and plural in Finnish are usually shown by how the noun (and verb) is inflected. Here, koira and kissa are both in the singular form, and they are combined with the plural verb ovat to show there are two subjects. When a single subject is involved, you use on; with multiple subjects, you use ovat.

What does täällä specifically mean?

Täällä translates to "here," indicating a location near or somewhat around the speaker. If you want to emphasize "right here, very close," you could use tässä, and if you mean "to here" (moving from another place), you would use tänne.

Why is the word order Koira ja kissa ovat instead of something like Ovat koira ja kissa?

In Finnish, the default word order is similar to English: Subject – Verb – (Object or other sentence elements). Koira ja kissa ovat follows this basic pattern (subjects first, then the verb). You can move words around for emphasis, but the most common and neutral way is to keep the subject before the verb.