Hän puhuu hyvin suomea.

he/she

Breakdown of Hän puhuu hyvin suomea.

• puhua: to speak
• suomi: Finnish
• hyvin: well

Questions & Answers about Hän puhuu hyvin suomea.

What does Hän mean in this sentence, and does it specify gender?

Hän means “he” or “she” in English, but it doesn’t tell you if the person is male or female. Finnish pronouns are gender-neutral.

Why is suomea in the partitive case rather than suomi?

Many verbs in Finnish (like puhua) take their object in the partitive when the action is ongoing or not completed. Also, you “speak some amount of a language,” so you use the partitive form suomea (the partitive of suomi) instead of the nominative.

Why isn’t there any article like “a” or “the” before suomea?

Finnish has no articles (no words for “a” or “the”). Nouns stand on their own without definite or indefinite articles.

How is the verb puhuu formed from its infinitive puhua?

The infinitive is puhua. To form the present tense, 3rd person singular, you remove the -a from puhua and add -u, giving puhuu. Finnish verbs change endings based on person and number.

What is hyvin, and could it come after suomea instead?