Apteekin työntekijä kysyi, onko minulla voimassa oleva vakuutus.

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Breakdown of Apteekin työntekijä kysyi, onko minulla voimassa oleva vakuutus.

• kysyä: to ask
• olla: to have
• vakuutus: the insurance

Questions & Answers about Apteekin työntekijä kysyi, onko minulla voimassa oleva vakuutus.

What does Apteekin mean and why is it in the genitive form here?

Apteekin is the genitive singular of apteekki (pharmacy). In Finnish, when one noun describes or belongs to another, the first noun takes the genitive case. So Apteekin työntekijä literally means “the pharmacy’s worker,” i.e. pharmacy employee.

What does työntekijä mean?

työntekijä means employee or worker.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” in front of Apteekin työntekijä?

Finnish does not have definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand alone; context tells you whether something is specific (the pharmacy employee) or general (a pharmacy employee).

What is kysyi and why is it in the past tense while the embedded question uses the present?

kysyi is the past tense form of kysyä (to ask). Finnish generally does not shift tenses in reported speech, so even though the reporting verb is past, the embedded question retains its original present tense form onko.

What is onko, and how does it form a yes-no question?

onko is the present-tense interrogative form of olla (to be), created by adding the question particle -ko to the verb. In this sentence functions like “do … have” or “is …?”