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Questions & Answers about Kadonnut avain on pöydällä.
Why is kadonnut used here? Is it an adjective or a verb?
In this sentence kadonnut is a past participle functioning as an adjective. It describes the state of avain (“key”) by meaning “(that which has) disappeared” or “lost.” Finnish often uses participles just like adjectives to give extra information about a noun.
How is kadonnut formed, and how does it agree with avain?
The verb is kadota (“to disappear”). To form the past participle for verbs ending in -da/-dä, replace -da/-dä with -nut (or -nyt after front vowels). So kadota → kadonnut. As an adjective, kadonnut agrees with avain in number and case. Here both are in the singular nominative, so you see no extra endings. If you made it plural, you’d say kadonneet avaimet (“the lost keys”).
Why isn’t there a word for “the” in Kadonnut avain on pöydällä?
Finnish has no articles (no the or a/an). Definiteness is inferred from context. In English you’d choose the lost key or a lost key by context; in Finnish, kadonnut avain can mean either “the lost key” or “a lost key,” depending on what’s already known.
Why is avain in the nominative case here?
When a noun is the subject of a sentence and you’re stating something about it, you use the nominative case (the dictionary form). Here avain is the subject of on (“is”), so it stays in the nominative singular.
Why is pöydällä in the adessive case (the -llä ending)? What does that imply?
-llä is the adessive case, used to express “on top of,” “at,” or “by” something as a static location. So pöydällä literally means “on the table.” If you wanted “under the table,” you’d use the adessive of alapuolella or the instructive, but for simple “on” you pick adessive.
What is the basic word order here, and can it change?
The default Finnish word order is Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) or Subject–Adverb–Verb, etc. In Kadonnut avain on pöydällä, you have Subject (kadonnut avain) – Verb (on) – Adverbial phrase (pöydällä). However, Finnish is flexible: you can front different parts for emphasis or style.
Is it okay to say Pöydällä on kadonnut avain instead?
Yes. Pöydällä on kadonnut avain simply shifts focus: you start by commenting on the table (“On the table…”) and then introduce the key. Both versions are grammatically correct and common in spoken and written Finnish.