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Questions & Answers about Mitä teet nyt?
What does Mitä mean in this sentence?
Mitä is the question word “what.” It’s the partitive form of mikä, used here to ask about an action.
Why is teet used, and what does it mean?
Teet is the 2nd person singular present tense form of the verb tehdä (“to do”). Together, teet means “you do” or “you are doing.”
Why isn’t the subject pronoun sinä (you) included?
Finnish is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -t already shows that the subject is “you.” Adding sinä is grammatical but usually redundant.
What role does nyt play, and why is it placed at the end?
Nyt means “now.” Finnish word order is fairly flexible, and placing nyt at the end stresses the timing of the action.
Why is Mitä in the partitive case instead of the nominative?
In Finnish, when you ask “what” about an ongoing or incomplete action, the object takes the partitive case. Here mitä marks that you’re inquiring about an action in progress.
Can I change the word order, for example to Mitä nyt teet?