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Questions & Answers about Puistossa on seitsemän koiraa.
Why does puistossa end in -ssa, and what does it mean?
Puistossa is the inessive case of puisto (“park”), meaning in the park or in a park. The -ssa ending marks the location “inside” or “at” something.
Why is the verb on singular even though there are seven dogs?
In Finnish existential sentences (“there is/are”), you always use the third-person singular on, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural. It simply means “there is/there are.”
Why is koiraa in the partitive singular and not koirat (nominative plural)?
When a numeral greater than one modifies a noun, Finnish puts the noun into the partitive singular. Therefore “seven dogs” is seitsemän koiraa, not seitsemän koirat.
Why are there no “the” or “a” before puisto?
Finnish has no articles (a, an, the). Context tells you whether something is definite or indefinite. Puistossa on seitsemän koiraa can be translated as “There are seven dogs in the park” or “There are seven dogs in a park,” depending on context.
Can I change the word order to Seitsemän koiraa on puistossa?
Yes. Finnish is flexible with word order:
• Puistossa on seitsemän koiraa. – neutral
• Seitsemän koiraa on puistossa. – emphasizes how many dogs there are
Cases and verb forms remain the same regardless of position.
How do I pronounce the double ss in puistossa?
Finnish distinguishes between single and long consonants. ss is a long /s/, held about twice as long as a single /s/. Pronounce it like PUIS-to-ssa, with a lengthened -ssa.
How can I ask “How many dogs are in the park?” in Finnish?
You can say:
• Kuinka monta koiraa on puistossa?
or more colloquially:
• Montako koiraa on puistossa?
Here kuinka monta/montako = “how many,” koiraa = “dogs” (partitive), on = “there is/are,” puistossa = “in the park.”